Recovery
by Sgt. Socks
Summary: The sound of his panting scared me, only slightly.His heartbeat was fast, much too fast for him to be just a human.It made me wonder if it had worked,to the point I looked over at him,his eyes staring straight above him in wonder.All-American Girl sequel
1. 00: Worked

**the prologue is short, and i'm working on chapter one. i PROMISE you. things get better. =) i know that ended terribly, and i'm sorry. but, well, you'll see. =) that's all i'm gonna say.**

* * *

I love the way that your heart breaks  
With every injustice and deadly fate  
Pray it all be new  
And living like it all depends on you

Yeah

Here you are  
Down on your knees again  
Trying to find air to breathe again  
And only surrender will help you now  
I love you  
Please see and believe again

* * *

The sound of his panting scared me, only slightly. His heartbeat was fast, much too fast for him to be just a human. It made me wonder if it had worked, to the point I looked over at him, his eyes staring straight above him in wonder.

_I'll take that as a yes._


	2. 01: Deal

**the song in the prologue was _Again _by Flyleaf. i'm tired, so i'm just getting up the prologue and chapter 1 for now. i'll probably have more up later today. (it's 12:06 AM) so, anyways, i'm sorry i didn't get to update. i had a birthday party for myself, my sisters, and...my cousin. so, here's chapter 1. if you're still reading this far, i'm not gonna tell you to read, because you are. but, please review once you're done. it's not that hard, and i'd really appreciate it. it makes me feel good, and it helps me improve. seriously. and, enjoy! =)**

* * *

Because days come and go  
But my feelings for you are forever  
Because days come and go  
But my feelings for you are forever

* * *

Getting over all of this was hard, harder than we had originally thought it would be. Alex went back to school to protect me, and Sam had her fun. She literally beat the crap out of Lindsey, and she got in trouble for it, but I was thankful. Everyone was. Someone else had finally stood up to her.

But, that was just a preview to what she would get when I got a hold of her. Lemme tell you. Things would be very ugly and very bloody.

My mind was made up. As soon as I was able, that little slut was getting what she deserved. Sam, being Sam, didn't even give it to her. Only I could.

Sam let out a sigh of content that Sunday afternoon. "My first homecoming. What's it like?"

"You'll see," Seth assured her, smirking. "But, no matter what, don't go to the homecoming dance with anyone, okay? Everyone here is like they were with Ari, but with you. Right now, they're just after your body."

"I'll keep that in mind." I could almost _hear _her roll her eyes. She would be able to tell, because, after all, she _is _Sam.

He laughed. "Right. Forgot." Those handy office people put Sam in all of my classes, as extra backup. I thought it was funny, because she ended up partnered with Alex in Chemistry, which was for the best anyways.

The school seemed to just forget about Elli as the month went by and homecoming rolled around. They held a memorial service in her memory, but no one seemed to truly care.

And I knew why. For the most part, she had been the science geek, and this place was full of people who just cared about looks.

I was so glad to have my super fast healing, because now, I was left with only a fractured leg. Everything else, besides my eyesight, was completely healed. It left me with some nasty scars, but I was okay with that. The thing that I _wasn't _okay with but would have to just get over was the eyesight.

This was all my fault. We've discovered that this is either permanent, or it'll be here for a while. Either way, I didn't like it.

Seth's birthday was coming up soon too, which was something interesting.

Seth refuses to let me win this fight, or so he thinks. He says there is nothing on this Earth he wants because he's already got something better than the world.

It's sweet, and once I'm un-melted, or whatever you want to call it, solidified, as some people say, then, he changes the subject. It's like he knows when that is too, because he's always laughing at the exact point.

And my family, they're no help at all! The men are agreeing with Seth, saying at eighteen, especially, I'm all he'll need. The women, now…

Let's go back to Friday afternoon, when I had the females in a room to ask them the same question I had asked the men.

"Momma, what do you always get Daddy for his birthday?"

"Lingerie," she replied immediately, without any though or hesitation at all.

"Nudge?"

"I don't get Fang anything," she admitted, sighing a little. "He never wants anything!"

"I meant Sean," I said simply before rolling my eyes in her direction. "I'm desperate here."

"Lingerie," she said honestly.

I groaned. "Ella?"

"Same."

"Angel?" Angel, for sure, had gotten him something different. She, at least, got him something else.

"Lingerie," she said simply.

I just scowled and crossed my arms over my chest. "Alli?"

"Same," she admitted. "And...well, no. That's it."

"I don't get how you get over the smell," Momma informed her, laughing a little. "I mean, he never lets it out here, so he must do it at home."

"Air freshener," Ella pointed out.

Alli shook her head. "Actually, guys, ever since he made me like you, it's just like any normal person with him."

"Then, wouldn't the name the Gasman be void?" Nudge wondered aloud.

"I can't see him as anything else," Alli said honestly before shrugging. "He'll always be my Gazzy."

I just groaned and walked out of the room, of course not needing to see to do so. I had been around here long enough to know what everything looked like.

They were no help at all!

This was the big week, for two reasons. One, Seth turns eighteen, and two, homecoming. The big week of the year. What you did at homecoming determined how much you were liked the rest of the year.

At least that's what Seth, Piper, Garrett, Kelsi, and Hayley told me. They also told me that we have a pep rally every day. The one today had some faculty there at the beginning, to announce the nominees that we voted for last week for homecoming king and queen. Then, after they announced them, they would be gone.

Alex couldn't find it in him to get pepped up and excited, but Sam and I encouraged him and did our best. Sometimes, it worked, and she even got him to laugh and smile.

It made me realize that Alex wasn't dying. I mean, he thinks he is, and he still says he is, but he won't.

To be honest, I personally thought that maybe, just maybe, Sam was the answer. Of course, I can't be sure, because I haven't _seen _the way they look at each other, but it's possible.

Momma says no, and she _really _knows Alex. She knows that he'll move on soon, just like I do, but she doesn't think that it's with Sam. I couldn't argue, though, because I couldn't just see for myself. She could.

Seth was here whenever possible. Since he would soon be graduating and living with me, he spent time with his family, but he also spent a _lot _of time with me, sometimes just holding me and whispering in my ear details of everything around us.

He was really good at describing the sunset, so vivid and clear. I could also imagine the snow, even though I was never around much snow until I moved here. Sometimes, we would sit in the snow, and I would practice using my eyes without actually having my eyes. Iggy was impressed, because using my hearing and smell, I could accurately hit Seth every time.

Iggy wasn't the only one impressed.

I was beginning to adapt to being blind. Momma decided that once they attacked again, being able to still fight and go on without eyesight was important, so everyone got Iggy training. I even got to help, because I was already so advanced.

Seth was rubbing my arm gently, making sure to carefully place me so I wasn't on top of his…happiness. Yesterday, I accidentally hurt it, really badly, because I stood up, and when I put my hands down on the chair to push myself up…

Yes. So, he made sure I wasn't touching it. And, when we were just laying there, it would sometimes get hard either because he was thinking about stuff, because the wind blew wrong, or just because. It worked both ways.

"Homecoming week begins tomorrow," Seth whispered, his lips pressing against my hair softly. "Ari, things are just gonna get worse, _especially _when you get nominated for homecoming queen and she doesn't."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Um, what? Seth, why on Earth would I get nominated for homecoming queen?"

"Because the homecoming queen is a beautiful, independent girl," he said softly, almost as if he was smiling my favorite smile as he did. "She's a leader, and she's a genuinely good person. She's an all-around ideal person, and she's a role model for others." He kissed my temple. "Ari, you don't realize how much you really impact the student body here. Before, they were all stuck up rich kids, and a lot still are, but for the first time, they're not scared to stand up for themselves, because even now, after life has beaten you and brought you down lower than anyone could ever imagine being, you're still positive, optimistic, and willing to stand up for yourself. Everyone knows that Sam did what she did for herself, not for you. It was for you, but not because you asked her to. Ari, you're the best thing that's ever happened to this place, and most importantly, you're the best thing that's still happening to me." He sighed. "You know, days come and go, but, Ari, my feelings for you are forever. I love you."

I smiled brightly. "I love you too, Seth, always and forever. But, I think you're just crazy."

He laughed. "Well, you'll see tomorrow, and when I'm right, I'm rubbing it in your face."

"Deal."


	3. 02: Pessimist

**this is a lot like chapter 17 (i think) from the original, but the next one is another new one. this is also different, because, well, she's blind, and she wasn't in the other one. so, anyways, yes. homecoming will be more exciting, more devious, and more passionate. =D you'll see. mwahaha. =) there haven't been any good, spicy scenes lately, as i noticed. the last one you can really consider was chapter 27, their first date. so, of course, there needs to be some more romance. (= and, things aren't gonna go the same as they did. for instance, they're not getting married on his birthday, although i'm sure he would love that. but, no. once it gets past homecoming, it'll all be brand new-especially since that's as far as i got with the other one.**

**anywho, the song in chapter 1 was _Forever _by Papa Roach. =) that song is sooooo amazing. i love it! =D**

* * *

If I'm a bad person  
You don't like me  
Well, I guess I'll make my own way  
It's a circle  
I mean cycle  
I can't excite you anymore

Where's your gavel?  
Your jury?  
What's my offence this time?  
You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me  
Will you sentence me to another life?

* * *

Today for homecoming, it was tacky day, and I looked hilArious. All the football players were dressed up, so they looked funny.

Seth had his hair halfway normal and halfway messy. I had one side of my head in a high, messy bun on the top of my head, and on the other side, it was down. Part of it looked straightened, and another part looked curly. I had on one brown converse and another black Rocket Dog. I had one leg of my sweats rolled up as high as I could get it, and the other not at all. Over the leg not rolled up, I had a bright cyan sock that went over my knee cap on, and I was sockless on the other foot. Well, I had a sock that was so low-cut that you couldn't see it. I had on an Alabama shirt. Sorry to all you Alabama fans out there. I'm and Auburn fan all the way, like my daddy. The shirt was crimson, and it was Momma's. She was frowning when she saw me, and Daddy got a kick out of it. Alex frowned too.

See, Momma and Alex are Alabama fans.

Anyways, under the shirt, I have a long-sleeved, Tennessee shirt. It's Ella's. I love Ella, but she cheers for the wrong team.

Once again, no offence.

It looked funny, because down the sleeve, Tennessee was written in white.

To top it all off, I had on a purple LSU cap. That was Alli's.

Kelsi had told me in gym today that last year, Seth and Lindsey were the only two nominated for homecoming king/queen, because Lindsey threatened everyone secretly. Seth doesn't know she did that though.

According to Kelsi, she's done it again this year, and it would be brutal. She offered to close my eyes for me, but, well, then she remembered I can't see, and felt bad. I told her it was okay, though. If that witch lays one finger on _my_ Seth, she's dead.

Also, Seth has officially put me on the team, so, I sit with the football players. That would put a damper on her covering my eyes.

The school day passed quickly, to my surprise. It kinda worried me. Something was happening that I didn't want, or something like that. Something that was gonna be bad or embarrassing.

I walked into the gym with ease, and warm arms wrapped around my waist, something that actually caught me off guard.

We would have to work on that.

"There you are."

I smiled up at Seth, aware he was kissing down my neck with a bright smile on his lips. "Here I am."

His lips softly met mine suddenly for just a second, once again taking me off guard. This made me curious about his mood, because he was suddenly so eager to see me. "Come on. Let's go."

I laughed as he literally dragged me across the floor. I was aware how stupid I looked, even though I couldn't see for myself, but it's tacky day. You're supposed to look stupid.

We both sat down on the first row of bleachers, and Josh sat on the other side of me. I knew it was Josh by the smell of his…unique cologne.

It stinks.

"Yeah! Our team is complete now!" He slapped me a high five. "What's happening? You look great, by the way. Very tacky."

I nodded and stuck my tongue out. "Alabama's not really my team, and neither is Tennessee or LSU."

"Are you a Georgia fan?" he guessed, voice curious. "Mississippi? Florida?"

"I'm war eagle all the way, baby," I said eagerly before laughing. "Nah. I've been an Auburn fan since I was little. After Daddy, Iggy, and Momma, war eagle was the next thing I said."

"Is it because you think blue and orange look good together?" Garrett asked warily from behind me.

"No," I snorted. "When I was three, which is when I first really got into football, it was because they were good. They were finally coming back from their losing streak to Alabama. They won five years in a row, and then Alabama won three. Auburn came back and hasn't lost since."

"They are good," Seth agreed. "They're first in SEC rankings."

I nodded. "Followed by my second favorite team, the Georgia Bulldogs, which is followed by Florida, then Alabama, and I think Mississippi is next. I can't really remember past fourth."

"Marry me," Seth begged sincerely, and it felt like he was sitting in the floor while holding my hand, probably on his knees. "Damn it! You're _perfect_! You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life!" The guys all cheered in agreement, and I punched his arm, which he reacted to by sitting back down beside me. "Ow. You're strong, and you know football. You are officially my dream girl times a million, because by now, I think I've said it that many times."

"No," Jake said firmly as he ran around and got on his knees in front of me, I think. He then eagerly grabbed my left hand. "Ari, marry me!"

"No," Josh said decisively as he shoved Jake's hand off and pulled me over in his lap, surprising me more than anything else so far. "Me! She's mine."

"Hello?" Seth seemed slightly irritated, but in a playful way, just like they were doing—playing around. "She's _actually_ mine."

"Nope," Garrett said simply before pulling me up there with him, hugging me tightly against him. "Mine."

"No," Zack, the defensive lineman, argued, pulling me over beside the wall beside the bleachers and sitting beside me. "Mine."

I laughed and stood up off the bleachers, somehow managing to make it without embarrassing myself or falling in any way, which was completely unusual—it would be even if I could see. "Okay, guys. I love you all. You make this so hard to choose."

Seth dramatically gasped. "Well, fine then."

I laughed softly before sitting back down beside him and kissing his cheek softly, wrapping my arms around his neck as I did so.

I could almost _see _him smiling my favorite smile at me, and from the way my heart raced anyways, even _still_, I knew he was, so I could picture it as if I was looking at it.

"As I was saying, you're not always wondering where I am, why I'm out hanging with my friends instead of you, or any of that. You just...give me breathing room."

"Let's clone her," Josh suggested eagerly. "Ari, you can seriously do that, right?"

I grimaced in his direction. "I _can_, but it's really hard to do, and the clones I make aren't really...well, they're exactly like me, but they're kinda...blonde."

"Exactly like you," Seth said teasingly, yet seriously, while nodding. Then, he laughed humorously and turned his head away from me.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh? So, why is it you want me so badly?"

He looked back over at me, and once again, I knew he was smiling my favorite smile at me. "Because, it wouldn't be the same doing this to a clone." With that, his lips eagerly met mine, and I smiled before kissing him back just as fervently. My hands rested along his jawbone, and the guys all cheered behind us.

The cheerleaders all walked out about then from the doors beside the bleachers. Lindsey gasped histrionically before clearing her throat. To my complete amazement, Seth stayed like that for another three seconds. Then, he pulled back and kissed my cheek softly, still smiling my favorite smile.

"Uh, team members only," Lindsey said icily as she walked over, something I could tell by the way her footsteps got closer...or _someone's _did. There was an angered expression in her tone, a tone that made me so happy. Maybe it's because Seth had refused to show PDA with her around _anyone_, and here he was, making out with me in front of the entire school.

"She _is_ a part of this team," Seth shot back smugly before pulling me into his lap and kissing my neck.

"Yeah," Garrett said firmly as he put his hand on my shoulder, my good one. "So fuck off, bitch!"

She gasped again, and I just laughed demonically before kissing Seth's cheek. It was just _so_ fun rubbing it in her face that _I_ won. I see why she enjoys it so much.

"You're just a little whore."

I stood up now, not needing to see to know where she was. "Whoa, whoa, whoa now."

I felt multiple hands pull me back down, and Seth stood up in my place, surprising me again. "Lindsey, shut the hell up and leave me alone. Leave _her_ alone, most importantly. You can quit making her life hell, alright, because no matter what you do, no matter _who_ you have kiss her...nothing will change my mind. I hate you, and I love her. I always have. Get the hell over it. If you have a problem with that, well, go kiss my ass, because I don't care."

I laughed and hugged Josh's arm. "I love you guys."

He patted my head reassuringly. "We love you too, sweetheart."

I just laughed again before standing up, thankful no one pulled me back down. "Seth, sweetheart, come on. It's alright. I really have had a lot worse than this today."

She let out an odd sound of anger, and I just smiled brightly at her. "I see you still haven't gotten that new insult book yet. I mean, really. Whore? That's the best you can do? I've gotten a lot worse from my uncle, alright?"

"Whoa," Seth said quietly, voice a whisper. "Really? Which one? Is it Sean, Iggy, Gazzy, or Jesse?"

"Sean," I said instantly, glancing over in his direction for a second. "He was kidding, but he says that kind of stuff all the time. According to him, it's to toughen me up, which I find ironic."

"Since you can kick his ass, right?" he asked humorously, and I knew he was grinning too.

I nodded and grinned back. "Exactly."

"You never came to my house!" Lindsey shrieked loudly, making everyone on the other side of the gym grow quiet to listen. "And we dated _three years_."

He groaned. "Why does she always have to remind me of the years I spent living in hell on earth?"

I laughed blissfully and kissed his cheek. "I don't know. I can help you forget them."

He chuckled softly and started kissing my neck again. "And just how do you plan to do that?"

"Well," I started slowly, biting my lip in not only desire, but also thought.

Lindsey snapped, which stopped me completely. As in, she did that annoying snap command thing she does.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck again. "That really gets old and really annoying."

She snapped again, this time with her hand in front of my face. And again. "What are you gonna do about it?"

I took a deep breath and smiled up at her. "Absolutely nothing."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing?"

"Except make all your hair fall out, along with your teeth, pimples cover your face, and make you shrivel up into an old lady," I said brightly with a matching smile before shrugging. "Because, I can do that." I laughed. "I did it to Momma before. That was so funny. She about killed me." I bit my lip again. "It was an accident."

"You have?" Seth asked curiously, voice sounding like he was in complete shock and aw

"No you can't," Lindsey said determinedly before snorting. "Just because you're a bitchy bird-freak who can set her hand on fire doesn't mean you can do all that to me."

"We bitchy bird-freaks prefer the term Avian Americans," I informed her lightly before snapping—not to do that annoying thing she does, but to do something else. I stepped out of Seth's arms, unwillingly, because I didn't want to hurt him while showing her. Water was suddenly dripping from my hand. "I can control water." I snapped again, and trees grew up for a second to block the sun from the windows. "Earth." I snapped again. "Wind." I snapped and made a basketball that was laying on the floor go in the hoop, something the guys all enjoyed. "Minds." I started focusing on controlling her. I had her spin in circles like a dog chasing its tail. "And more. I could go on, but I really don't like bragging. Ask Seth. He didn't even know about any of this."

"No," he disagreed, almost as if his eyebrows were furrowed—they probably were. "I knew about the objects because Saturday, when you were at the house, you—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lindsey interrupted harshly, voice sounding pained and full of rage. "_At the house_? Seth, we dated over three years, and you never once brought me to your house!"

"He likes me more," I said sweetly. "And, you're just a bitch who doesn't care about anyone but you, your popularity, and your face, which, by the way, needs a _lot_ of work. Your puke green eyes kill everything."

She gasped. "I don't have puke green eyes! They're blue, dummy. What? Did your loss of vision make you forget things like that?"

I scoffed. "I have raptor vision. I could see past those blue contacts of yours. Honestly. I've seen someone with that eye color, and she's _gorgeous_. If you're gonna get contacts, get some that look at least _similar_. Those look nothing like your real color." Then, I smiled. "Yeah, I'm blind, maybe forever, but, Lindsey, you wanna know another thing that's so sad?"

She didn't say anything. Looking through Seth's mind, I saw her glaring down at me—along with the fact that he found what I'm doing very sexy, and he was getting horny watching it.

So, I continued. "I won, and I'm not even playing the stupid little game."

I had quit looking through Seth's eyes, so I missed the uppercut straight to my nose, which snapped it instantly, and ticked _off _lots of people, more than just the guys.

Of course, I just found my way over to the garbage can, snorted all the blood out—wincing as I did so, because that hurts when you have a broken nose—and walked back over there. When I got there, Seth hugged me tightly.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered in my ear. "I didn't realize it until it was too late."

"I could give you a taste of your own medicine right now," I said darkly as I got closer to her, ignoring him for the moment. "I could show you what it's like to be the one you hate, but I'm not going to." I laughed as I heard, and smelled, someone getting closer, someone I knew could only be Sam. "But mess with me one more time, and I swear, I will."

I heard her walk away though, right as Sam got there.

"That little—"

"I've got this, Sam," I assured her, putting my hands on her shoulders and attempting to look into her eyes. "Don't worry, alright? You stay out of trouble, okay? Once I get my eyesight back—"

She sighed. "Ari, how do you know that you will?"

I frowned at her. "You know, Sam, it's a proven fact that optimistic people live longer."

"We're living forever, genius."

"Right," I said slowly, frowning still. "Well, still. Maybe I won't get it back, but there's no reason to stick to that."

"Yes there is," she disagreed. "You don't wanna get your hopes up."

I just scowled at her. "You pessimistic little creature. _I'm _supposed to be the pessimist, remember?"

She laughed. "Right. I remember."

"So, stop taking my job."

"What was that about a game?" Seth asked curiously as he wrapped one arm around my waist as I sat down, after Sam walked back across to the other side, most likely beside Alex, because he's her best friend—besides me, of course. Well, I think we're tied.

I sighed. "After you and...Elli saw him kissing me, she was saying something about how she told me she's the last person I want to mess with, and I couldn't stand the fact that she won. Blah. Well, I asked her what the prize was, why she enjoys tormenting me, and I told her she's playing a game I never wanted to play. I, at the time, was done. At the time, there was nothing else to lose. So, I told, her to hate me. She wins. Whoopde do. And, I told her one day soon, she was gonna regret everything. She'll gonna look at her reflection and she'll hasn't won anything." I laughed. "Be proud of me. I told her she's a bitch who cares about no one else but herself and her popularity."

He sniffled dramatically. "I'm so proud."

I laughed. "You should be."

"That's three times in one day," he informed me before laughing too. "I'm so proud of you."

I laid my head on his shoulder and nodded. "You should be."

He just smiled my favorite smile down at me—I could just guess—and suddenly, the student body started cheering, making me curious. So, I looked through Seth's eyes.

The cheerleading sponsor walked out to the center of the floor with a piece of paper in hand.


	4. 03: Race

**wow. okay. lol. well, for some reason, i didn't post chapter 3. id really k why, but i didn't. i tried to make this chapter, which is from the original story yall read, more suited to her newly acquired blindness. sorry if i missed some things. well, here is chapter 3, followed by chapter 4. band camp this week. =P almost done though. =D. the song in chapter 2 was _Ignorance _by Paramore. AMAZING song!**

**

* * *

**

"Hello, Independence High School. Are you having a great homecoming week, or what?"

Everyone cheered sincerely, because, so far, this had been the best week of the year. Of course, it was only October, but homecoming is fun, if you're not just a boring stick in the mud, or if you enjoy things like this. To be honest, I know some people who are truly awesome that hate this week.

Take Sean, for instance, or Gazzy.

"You guys look hideous!" she exclaimed comically, in an attempt to be funny.

They gave her fake laughs in response, laughs that somewhat kinda sounded almost sincere. Geez. They're so…orderly.

I let out a breath that sounded like a laugh, especially if you weren't expecting it.

"You really think that's funny?" Seth asked warily, lips pursed together. There was a particular sound his voice had when they were like this. "If so, you are easily amused."

"I am easily amused," I agreed, nodding. "I'm not _that _easily amused, though. I was laughing at her attempt to be funny. It's funny to me how all these adults will try to be funny, the older ones."

"Do aging adults amuse you?"

"Yeah," I admitted with a sheepish grin. "They do. The non-aging ones do too, because they really are funny."

He just laughed softly in agreement, because it was true, and he knew that. My family truly was funny.

"Before we get to it and announce your homecoming king and queen nominees, I was asked to make a quick announcement," she informed us. "The talent show, at the moment, only has four contestants. The three-time champion, Lindsey Williams, is one of those four. Someone needs to compete against her."

"If Ari signs up, this will be _good_," I heard Lindsey snort.

My teeth ground together, especially when I felt the prick of eyes on me, another set anyways. Lindsey and her posse were constantly looking at me, for the most part, so I was used to it. This time, though, I knew who it was.

Alex.

"Now, help me bring out your homecoming king nominees with a big round of applause," she said enthusiastically, making me, once again, thankful I'm not a cheerleader. That fake enthusiastic, peppy crap they do annoys me. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to offend anyone, but it just irritates the crap outta me. "There are two this year. Seth Moore!"

There were a lot of squeals, high pitched female squeals, and he softly groaned. The team started cheering, and I couldn't help but grin at him. Along with that, I squeezed his hand encouragingly. "Good luck."

He flashed me my favorite smile briefly before walking out there. Through Sam's eyes this morning, I discovered that he's wearing an ankle cut sock and a knee sock, one with a black flip flop and the other with a brown. Definitely tacky. Also, he has on a brown dress shirt with black sweatpants. The brown dress shirt is unbuttoned to reveal and old, dirty, stained t-shirt.

"And Alex Lawrence!" she exclaimed to finish it off.

My mouth fell wide open in surprise for a minute, but then I laughed as more girls broke into loud squeals. There were a lot of guys cheering too, because he's overall loved, just like Seth. I just _knew _his eyes were bulging, and I laughed at him some. He walked out on the floor, and I could guess the evil look he was giving me.

No. I honestly had nothing to do with that, although now that I thought about it, I wish I had.

I just innocently shrugged in my guess to where he was, and he could tell I was being sincere.

Although, I really wish I had.

"That's your brother?" Zack asked behind me, making sure he had it right.

I nodded. "Twin. We look nothing alike. Every time we move, there are some people who think we're married." I shuddered. "Just a little bit of a huge amount of a lot a bit _**creepy**_."

Alex laughed at my convoluted sentence. Knowing Alex, he was in the process of telling Seth too.

"He heard me," I mumbled with a scowl. "And he just told my boyfriend. Great."

Alex laughed again as the cheering died down.

"Now," she said brightly. "Your homecoming queen. By the way, before I announce this, I just thought you should know. Your homecoming nominees will be doing things during pep rallies that will help you decide. There are two for each category. One nominee for queen is...Ari Lawrence!"

My eyes shot wide open, and for a second, as everyone started cheering and screaming, I was frozen completely. Shock had my entire body stiff and rigid, and it honestly felt as if I literally _couldn't _move.

Seth was right...

"Yeah!" I heard the football players cheer louder than anyone, making me wince in fear and horror.

Someone shoved me up onto my feet, making me stumble of course, and I noticed Alex and Seth laughing then, just because my hearing is that good. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I started walking towards them.

"Which one of you was it?" I asked darkly as I walked in between them, making sure to look in their general directions as I spoke. For the most part, I was glaring at Seth—I think—because _he _was the one who had said it would happen last night, so I was leaning towards him.

They both laughed, and in unison, said, "He did it."

I took a deep breath to steady myself. "You two better be glad there are witnesses and that was funny."

"Ooh," Alex said sarcastically, jokingly of course. "Scary."

I elbowed him in the ribs somewhat forcefully, and I heard one crack instantly. He just grunted and shut up from there, mumbling really ugly things about me under his breath.

"Did you just break his ribs?"

"Just one," I corrected, smirking a little. "But, it's okay. He'll be fine tomorrow."

Lindsey was _ticked_, as I saw through Alex's eyes, since Seth was watching me. She was standing up, for some reason—Alex saw her stand up when she said, "One nominee for queen is..." so that answered my question. The team was _still_ cheering, which kept the whole school cheering along with them. Of course, the cheerleading sponsor made sure to wait until everyone was done cheering before she went on too.

Lindsey's face was glowing red, and when she finally sat down, she had that look in her eyes, that oddly somewhat kinda a little bit almost a teensy bit scary look. Her face went back to normal instantly, though, as she waited for the second nominee.

I had just started a war.

Oh goody. Now the fun would really begin.

"And your second," she went on, keeping things way too dramatic and elongated, "is Sam Tucker!"

I had _known _that one was coming, and she must've heard it from her mind, because she wasn't surprised. Honestly, I figure she _looked _surprised, but I knew she really wasn't by the way that she was down here rather quickly and giving me her usual Sam vibes—awesome best friend, duh.

Sam hit her fist against mine, which I was holding up for her. "Nice work. World War III will be so much fun to fight with you."

I laughed. "Oh yes, most definitely. I'll have to remember to get the MAC10s ready when we get home."

"Of course," she played along, laughing a little. "And you can't forget the shotguns."

"Oh, the handy shotgun."

"You two are insane," Alex informed us, chuckling loudly, along with Seth. "The weirdest part about it is, you met less than a month ago..._not even four weeks ago_."

"You're just jealous," I said with a smirk, "cause Sam loves me and not you." I stuck my tongue out at him.

The thing that surprised me then was the way that he suddenly got _nervous_, something I don't even think Sam noticed, because she did too. They were both stuttering like crazy, and I could just _feel _the nervous vibrations radiating off of them. It made me curious, so I looked through Seth's eyes and found them both blushing and looking down at their feet.

Oh _heck _yes!

"Now, I'm gonna turn it over to your head cheerleader, Lindsey Williams," said before nodding in her direction. After Lindsey took the mike, she left.

The second she was out the door, the cheering died, and everyone's face got blank as they just stared at her. Now, I was looking through Sam's eyes.

_This is so great._

"Of course," she breathed, now over my comment somewhat. Still, though, the idea was in the back of her mind.

Lindsey was frozen for a second and her smile instantly faded. She watched as they just stared at her, not clapping or doing anything else. Since this was just too great, I was still looking through Sam's eyes.

So, she swallowed before skipping up to Seth with a fake smile, glancing at us occasionally. Her eyes grew dark for a moment as she looked at me, but she was bright and peppy as she looked at Seth again. "Congrats." She kissed his lips passionately, for a good three seconds. "Just keep the tradition going, huh, Sethikins?"

Everyone started booing around us as my fists clenched tightly into white balls of fury. I was literally shaking with rage.

His eyes were blazing, and he shoved her back away from him. "No. There are _no_ traditions I'm keeping going."

Alex's eyes were wide as he looked at me, and Sam looked nervous too. They could see my hands heating up and getting ready to burst.

See, there's a certain point that I get to with my anger that I can't control myself. My hands start heating up, and once the fire is fully stared, I'm out of control. I will literally kill whatever made me mad, and possibly more too.

I'm an uncontrollable demon at that point.

They could both see the sparks starting to heat my hands.

The room was suddenly getting hotter and hotter, to my surprise. It was cold outside, but it was _burning _up in here, to the point I was starting to sweat. My face was burning the hottest, though. Well, all of me was burning, but my face was the hottest.

"Seth!" Alex and Sam exclaimed in unison, surprising me a little, but not enough to calm me down. "Kiss her, right now!"

Seth's eyebrows furrowed, but he did what they said. That was plenty. I froze right where I was. Everything suddenly cooled down, and I was under control, no longer about to break and do something ugly and beyond brutal. Alex and Sam had saved Lindsey…for now.

Seth didn't make it quick, though, like they probably meant. It wasn't long, drawn out, and passionate, like some of our previous kisses have been, but it wasn't a second either. It was a good, seven seconds, maybe.

I closed my eyes when he pulled back and took a deep, relaxing breath. The guys made aw noises to irritate me, but I smiled anyways. "Thanks, guys. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, even if it _was_ just the bitch." I looked in her direction. "You're about to see a side of me you'll wish you never brought out if you don't stop."

Her bottom lip trembled a little—must I say it? Sam's eyes—but she quickly composed herself. "I'm not scared of you."

"You don't have to be scared to die," I said simply, shrugging. "In the figurative way. I'm not gonna kill you, but you're gonna regret ever messing with me."

She looked back to the school, and her voice was shaky. "Al…alright, for this…this pep rally, the nominees are in charge. Seth…y…you remember what to do?"

He laughed blissfully and nodded. "Yeah. I do."

She just shoved the mike at him and ran back over to her cheerleaders, probably crying and telling them how terrible I was, and she just couldn't help herself.

I laughed too, and Seth smiled my favorite smile down at me. It was a sixth sense I had grown, along with some other senses. But, we won't go into those yet..

"Alright, so—"

Girls all around the room squealed, which cut him off. He winced for a second before going on.

"So, last year, this wasn't as fun, because there were only two people. Well, we've got four now, so, that's better."

Everyone cheered.

"Alright," he said happily before looking at Sam, Alex, and me. "First you have the relay race. You pick one person to be on your team. It can be anyone, including a nominee. They need to be smart and athletic for this." He frowned. "Well, I'm just at a disadvantage here."

I laughed. "How about you get more than one?"

"That'll work," he agreed, laughing. "Alright, so, you three, pick someone."

"Ladies first," Alex said simply.

"We'll let the ugliest go first," I informed him, nodding. "Go ahead."

He snorted. "Whatever. Just pick already, Ari."

"Sam, duh."

"Well then, I pick Seth," he retorted, glaring at me with playfully narrowed eyes.

"I feel the love," Seth said sarcastically as he pouted at me. "Thanks, darling. I'll remember that."

I just smiled sweetly in his direction before turning to Sam, who was laughing.

_We have to kick butt._

"Alright," Seth breathed into the mike. "Who has the rules this time?"

Zack walked out with a piece of paper. Zack's the co-captain, so it made sense, to me anyways. "Alright. While I talk, the cheerleaders are gonna set this up." He pursed his lips. "Ari, you and your Southern talk are rubbing off on all of us."

"Hey, I told yall from day one it was bad," I reminded him, shrugging innocently. "Yall just didn't believe me."

"True," he agreed before laughing. "Here's a note. That's the first time I've heard her say yall, and we just heard it twice."

I just crossed my arms as the school sincerely laughed. Some were laughing at me, and some were laughing because of what he said.

Alex nudged me. "Told ya it was bad."

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Alright," Zack said into the mike. "This is the one where the male will most likely win. The nominee will eat that plate full of food. The second they're completely done, they have to run the Mountain Dew over to their partner, who will start chugging. Once the partner is done, they'll bring the can of purple Bookoo over to the nominee for them to chug it. Once the Bookoo is gone, the team has to throw away their trash. The first person to clean up their mess wins."

"Ari, you are so going down," Seth warned as he walked back, laughing. "I've seen you eat."

I crossed my arms. "And? So has Alex!"

"She _can_ eat," he said carefully, as if he was trying to decide how this would go. "But, _never _under pressure."

I looked at Sam with a grin. _It's so on. You're the only person who has _really_ seen me eat._

She laughed. "Same here."

I just smiled at her.

Seth and Alex stood at one of the tables on each end. In each plate was some okra—hey, now, that's cool—some French fries, some mashed potatoes, and then, beside them was the Mountain Dew can with the Bookoo beside that.

Sam set up where she was supposed to in front of me, and Alex stood in front of Seth.

When I walked over to the plate beside Seth, the two of them exchanged a glance.I knew what they were thinking.

Destroy her at all costs.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, unsure of just how I would do this without eyesight. Some people in the school didn't know I was blind, though, and I wanted to keep it that way.

So, I tuned into Sam's mind, and focused on what she saw. Looking at myself from another person's point of view was odd, but I had gotten used to it at this point.

"Before we say go," Zack announced into the mike. "Ari, no cheating."

Alex laughed darkly. "Now we're talking."

"Oh yeah," Seth approved.

"It's not cheating," I said firmly with crossed arms. "It's using my natural abilities. How is that cheating?"

"If you have natural abilities no one else does, don't use them," he corrected before laughing. "Alright?"

"Fine," I grumbled. But, then, I smiled, because that meant Alex couldn't cheat either by stopping time.

"Dig in!" he exclaimed as he walked over to where all of the actual school was sitting.

So, we did. I had an advantage over both of them.

They were both the kind of eater that had to eat one thing at a time. I could, without them knowing, make my tongue tasteless, and eat everything together.

I didn't, of course. I, at a normal, human pace—well, like at those hotdog eating contests kinda normal—started eating. Seth was already done with the mashed potatoes, but I had finished half of mine once he was done with the fries.

As he moved on to the okra, I finished. I picked up the Mountain Dew, and for me, I jogged over to Sam. It was as fast as Seth could go, so it totally wasn't cheating.

She laughed before opening it. I was licking the roof of my mouth, due to the potatoes stuck to the top, while she chugged it.

Sam had already started chugging the Mountain Dew when he picked up his Mountain Dew to run to Alex.

The school was going absolutely crazy right now. They were screaming at the top of their lungs, and I had adrenaline rushing through me, pumping me up to go faster. There were mixed chants, some of which were cheering and screaming for Alex and Seth—mostly girls—and some were cheering for Sam and me—guys, including the team, who were the absolute loudest.

Sam ran to the other end, grabbed the Bookoo, and ran back to me. I popped it open right as Alex finished chugging the Mountain Dew. That's when I started with the Bookoo.

"This'll be what gets her right here," Alex informed Seth as he handed him the Bookoo. "She can't drink fast to save her life."

That was true.

I closed my eyes and started drinking as fast as I could. I heard their drink being opened, but that just sent more adrenaline rushing through my veins.

And, I finished a good three second before he did. Sure, it _was_ what slowed me down, but it wasn't enough.

Sam grabbed the Mountain Dew can, and we both took off for the plate, me having to grab her shirt a little so I wouldn't run into a wall or anything. I grabbed it with one hand, and I threw it, along with the bottle, in the garbage can behind us. She threw the can away right before Seth and Alex threw all of their stuff away.

I had managed to do all of that without getting any on me or spilling a drop. They both looked over at me, and Sam gave me a big hug.

"Yes! Go Ari! That was awesome!"

I stuck my tongue out at Seth and Alex as they both laughed, hitting their fists against each others. Once Sam let me go, the bell to go home rang. So, Seth ran and pinned me against the wall.

"You are perfect," he whispered before fervently kissing me, with more passion than he had in a _long _time. It made me realize that he had been thinking about me during football, if you get what I meant.

Alex cleared his throat loudly behind us, right as Sam giggled. "Not being mean or anything, but, Ari, do you honestly think this is the place?"

I pulled back and frowned deeply at his direction before sighing and glancing back in Seth's. "Don't you just get so annoyed when he's right?"

Seth sighed too. "Yeah. I do. You wanna know the great thing about homecoming week?"

"What?"

"No practice until Thursday," he said simply, giving me my favorite smile to go along with it.

I smiled brightly. "Really now?"


	5. 04: Trust

**here's the next chapter of Recovery! yay! sorry it's been so long. i've been really busy-let's just say band camp is really long. lol. =) well, anyways, here it is. please review. pretty please? it helps me a lot! and i hope you enjoy it too. you're obviously gonna read it, cause you've read this far. why stop now?**

**many thanks to my wonderful, amazing beta, Iggy4ever. yay! everyone clap for her. *claps excitedly* Yay! =D**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Maximum Ride, things wouldn't have gone down like they did. FANG most DEFINITELY wouldn't have happened, but i highly doubt THE FINAL WARNING or MAX would've gone down the same either. ANGEL, which hasn't come out yet, DEFINITELY wouldn't even be CLOSE to the description it's got. anyways, the point is, James Patterson owns them, not me.**

**CLAIMER: I do own Ari (the girl), Sam (the girl), Alex, Cory, Marie, Ella, Alli, Sean, Jesse, Lindsey, her posse, the team, any people from school (the normal kind), and Elli (RIP).**

* * *

It seems like every day's the same and  
I'm left to discover on my own  
It seems like everything is grey  
And there's no color to behold

They say it's over and I'm fine again, yeah  
Try to stay sober  
Feels like I'm dying here, yeah

And I am aware now of how  
Everything's gonna be fine

* * *

Sam is great.

We both spent three _hours _looking for the perfect pajamas to wear tomorrow. Honestly, I think we have more pajamas than we do clothes, but it's okay, because we have plenty of awesome clothes.

We both decided to stick with things that accented our eyes and hair color. It was _insane_ the way I've gotten to the point, already, where I can basically read her mind, and it's only been just a little over a week since I met her. The coolest part was, though, the fact that I can't even see her, and I _still _can, without cheating.

Sam decided on a pair of black drawstring pajama pants with purple—the same color purple, exactly, as her eyes—hemming, purple strings, and a purple waistband at the top. Along with that, it had purple hearts. She would wear a black camisole and a purple, the same color, zip-up hoodie with pockets at the bottom. As an added bonus, she had on black poodle slippers, and the poodle had a purple bow in its hair. Must I say it? It was the exact same purple color.

For me, I had on a pair of black, short cotton drawstring pajama shorts. They had bold, bright turquoise—same color as my eyes; everything turquoise I had on was—smiley faces on them; just "**=),"** no circle around it. They had turquoise hems, turquoise strings, and a turquoise waist band, similar to her pants. But, they were still somewhat different. To go with this, I had a turquoise lacy camisole, and I had on my fuzzy turquoise and white penguin slippers.

They're so adorable! I was just sad that I didn't get to see them anymore, because they're absolutely _adorable_!

Also, for an added, awesome measure, I had on a pair of black fishnet thigh high socks, to make up for the short shorts.

Through Sam's eyes, I saw what I looked like, and let me tell you, I looked _awesome_. I'm not usually one to say that, but I did.

She agreed too.

Now, we were in the pajamas we were wearing to bed. Some people wear the pajamas to bed that they're gonna wear the next day to pajama day, but I don't.

She decided to make us both girly for tomorrow, for some reason. I felt kinda bad, because I didn't get to help her—due to the inability to see—but she assured me that it was fine.

We both took showers, and then she put my hair up in French braided pigtails. Her own hair was gonna be just left down and curled. Her natural hair is straight.

I swear; we're so much alike and different at the same time that it's actually scary.

She began painting my fingernails before letting out a sigh of content. "You know, I didn't think I would ever get over losing my pack."

"Why?"

"The pain was just too great, and agonizing," she admitted, sighing again, but this time not in content. "I was miserable; more so than I ever even knew was possible." She paused for a second, either to build dramatic effect, or so she could leave me very curious. It was most likely both, if I had to guess. "But, then I met you guys, particularly you and Alex. You're all just so nice to me, and you treat me like a real person, like someone who deserves to be happy. I blamed myself, but in reality, it wasn't my fault. You've all done so much for me, and I don't understand _why_. As far as you knew, I could be here to kill you."

"You wouldn't have saved me if you were trying to kill us," I reminded her.

"I would've if I was just trying to get in with you to get close to all of your family so I could kill you all." **(A/N: I honestly thought about doing that, and bringing Elli back by saying they cloned her, but I decided I love Sam too much to make her a traitor.)**

"True, but I can tell, Sam," I admitted, laughing a little. "Why are we talking about this?"

"I just wanna know _why_."

"Because you saved me," I started, quickly going on so she wouldn't think that was the only reason; because it wasn't. "You're special, Sam, and you and I were instantly like best friends. Now, it's already more like sisters, and I've known you less than two months. And, my family knows what you're going through. They've been down that path, and they're not gonna make you go down it too."

I heard her sniffle, as if she was crying, so I just hugged her, not even caring that I didn't know where the fingernail polish was or if she was done.

"We love you, Sam."

Sam didn't understand; she knew Ari knew that.

But, what she _really _didn't understand was _how _they could trust her. After all, she had lied to them. It was her only choice.

Now, as she sat here with Ari, the two of them acting more like normal, human teenage sisters than she had ever acted before in her life, with anyone, she realized that maybe things would finally be okay. Maybe she could just go down instead.

It was a hard line to walk; the line between right and wrong. The _right _thing to do would be to tell Ari the complete truth and see where things go from there. But, at the same time, wasn't it the right thing to do to save her family?

That's where things went wrong. Why kill another family just to save hers? Sure; it made sense, on paper, but then she met them, and instantly, after just _seeing _Ari, she already knew she couldn't do it. She never would be able to.

But, she couldn't just let her family sit in that School and die. So, could she really get them to help her? If she did, they might found out the truth…

Wasn't that what was best, though?

Ari didn't understand her tears, and she was glad—for the moment—that she couldn't see. So many things were lost to Ari due to this fact, things Sam was thankful for. She was sure that Ari, at least, would notice these things for what they were if she could see.

When she said that, about how they were able to trust her, it brought her to tears, instantly. Ari would've known that maybe, just maybe, they couldn't if she had seen that.

She would...wouldn't she have?

"We love you, Sam."

Being here in Ari's arms brought her almost as much happiness as it brought her to be in Alex's arms, although she didn't understand _why _she loved that so much. With Alex and Ari, things were so much more different than they were with her family. Shane was her brother, yes, and she loved being with him. But, things were...different.

Back with her family, no one was allowed to hug her, and here, she found herself _wanting _to be hugged.

And with Ethan...it just confused her.

She didn't tell Ari the story of how she found out that it was just a trick, a lie. While they were escaping, her pack had been swapped with clones—obliviously to Sam—and the clones were the ones murdered, something the clones didn't realize was happening. But, the Whitecoats did.

The only still true thing about her story was the fact that Anna was a traitor, and they were all glad to see her die. She really had died.

That's what she deserved. Sam _enjoyed _that fact.

She could trust Ari with her secret, right? As long as she made sure to explain everything before letting Ari freak out, she would understand, wouldn't she?

And she would be willing to help too...after all, they have to end all of the Schools _and_ Itex anyways.

Sam bit her lip. "Um, Ari? Can I tell you something? Before you freak out, make sure you let me finish."

Ari's eyebrows furrowed, but she nodded, her beautiful eyes looking in my general direction, but above my head somewhere. I felt kinda bad for her, although she would smack me if she found out I said that.

_I'm confused._

I just sighed. "Well...you see..."


	6. 05: Still Here

**sorry for the short chapter. i've actually had this done for a long time, but i don't remember why i didn't post it on here...no excuses, but i seriously have been really busy with band and school and such. the point is, here it FINALLY is, and i'm so sorry for the delay.**

* * *

I was movin' at the speed of sound  
Head spinnin', couldn't find my way around and  
Didn't know that i was goin down  
Yeah, yeah  
Well, I've been where it's all a blur  
What I was lookin' for  
I'm not sure  
Too late  
I could've seen it coming  
Yeah, yeah

And then I crashed into you  
And I went up in flames  
Coulda been the death of me  
But then you breathe your breath in me  
And I crashed into you  
Like a runaway train  
You will consume me  
But I can't walk away

* * *

"I'm not...Ari, I _did _come here to kill you all. You see, I told you about my family, and how they were murdered. But, I _didn't _tell you about how I found out that they were just clones, and it was another one of those twisted scientists' tests. They wanted to see how I coped. And, lemme tell you…it wasn't very well. The point is, they brought me back in, showed me that they were still alive, and they told me that the only way to save them was to kill you guys. I didn't want to, but they were my family. I knew I had to. Well, I come to, and then I see the scientist hurting you, and I saw _you_. I just...I couldn't anymore, Ari, and I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and I completely understand if you hate me now. I just can't lie to you anymore, Ari. I have to save my family, though. I _have _to."

"We'll save your family," I promised her, strangely finding no surprise in her words. A part of me knew, but at the same time, I knew she wasn't gonna hurt me. "As soon as we possibly can, we'll save them."

She hugged me. "Thank you, Ari, for understanding. Um, could we possibly keep this between us for a little while?"

I smiled in her direction. "Of course, Sam."

There was a knock on my door then, surprising us both. Sam stood up and opened the door, which I knew when I heard her soft, muffled footsteps and the door open.

"Seth!" she exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't except to see you here...what _are _you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Ari," he said brightly, in a tone I knew meant he had on my favorite smile.

I jumped up, probably too quickly, because I slipped back down and onto my bed. "Uh...right."

They were both laughing at me at this point, but I didn't really care. I was too happy that Seth was here to really and truly care.

I felt his hand grab mine, and I just waved in the direction I guessed Sam was before following him out of my room.

"Where are yall going again?" Alex asked Seth.

He must've either mouthed it or whispered it in his ear, because I didn't hear his response. I just felt Seth pulling me along down the stairs and out the door.

"Yes," I murmured to myself in wonder. "Where _are _we going? Seth Jacob Moore, if you don't tell me, I'm gonna—"

"You're gonna what?" he challenged. "Kill me? Beat me up? Please, Ari. You love me too much for that."

I scowled. "Okay, fine. So, I do. But, still! Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's a surprise."

We got in his truck, and he kissed me softly before leaving, because for some reason, I think my family has stopped watching us leave. I think they're finally content with Seth, after all that's happened that he's been there for. I'm _blind_, but he's still here. His life is in constant danger with me now, and he's still here.

And still here is where he'll always be.

We drove a while, a familiar drive I think. It was hard to really tell, because I couldn't see for myself.

But, something happened then. I didn't see it happening, but Seth sucked in a quick breath, and then, something crashed into us, at a really fast speed. I felt myself being thrown out of the truck, and Seth...well, I don't know. My head slammed against the pavement, and glass went through my arms, in my head, and scratched up my legs.

I fell into unconsciousness then, though, so I wasn't sure what exactly happened after that.


	7. 06: Left to Do

**sorry for the evil cliff hanger in the previous chapter that was after a HUGE delay! this one isn't mean. i promise. and, i swear. i'm gonna do my best to keep it updated. no promises on every day, but i'll try.**

**

* * *

**

Take my hand  
I give it to you  
Now you owe me all I am  
You said you would never leave me  
I believe you  
I believe

I can feel you all around me  
Thickening the air I'm breathing  
Holding on to what I'm feeling  
Savoring this heart that's healed

* * *

***Fang***

Something was wrong.

Max felt it too.

As did Alex.

And Sam.

That wasn't a good sign, and I knew what it meant. Last time, it meant Ari was in danger. Last time, Ari was almost killed.

One look from Sam, the look of pure terror, and I was gone. She followed behind me, with Alex and then Max trailing quickly behind. I wasn't sure if everyone else followed, but I didn't really care. The instant I was out the door, I took off and flew, not really caring what happened after that moment.

My baby was in trouble.

***Ari***

I opened my eyes, expecting the darkness that had taken over me, but when I did, I got something completely different.

It was dark, but I saw stars. I saw the moon. I saw the trees around us, my bloody arms...I saw everything.

Tears started pouring down my cheeks as I sat up, finding great pain in this action. My stomach was sore, and my arms were full of glass and bloody. It didn't surprise me to have blood running down my face, and soaking into my hair, just like it didn't surprise me when I had really bad road rash just about everywhere else.

Let's not go into my leg that was still broken...cause it's _ugly_.

I slowly stood to my feet to find Seth still in the truck, not breathing...not moving a single muscle.

Everything inside of me died at that moment. I didn't care what was wrong with me. Seeing Seth, so bloody...so pale...it was the worst sight I had ever seen. I would rather watch Elli get shot a million times over than see what I was looking at now.

And that's terrible to say, but it was true, so true.

"Seth!" I shrieked, before I could think about it. I was surprised to find no one but us here.

The stupid bastard that hit us just _left_! What the hell?

I was gonna hunt them down and murder them, so brutally. It was gonna be _ugly_.

"Seth," I whimpered as I rushed over to his door and threw it open, finding strange ease in the movement. "No, no, no, Seth. Baby, _please_! Please don't do this to me! I'm begging you!"

He didn't open his eyes, but I felt his hand grab mine. His eyes were fluttering, so I could see he was trying to look at me.

He just couldn't.

"Ari," he breathed, so softly I wasn't sure if he actually said it or not. But, then he went on. "I love you."

"No!" I insisted, shaking my head. "Seth, don't do this to me! You can't! We've been through too much to have it end like this!"

"Ari..."

"Seth, no!" I exclaimed. "You're _**NOT**_dying!"

He let out the softest moan. "I am...and I'm so sorry."

I refused to listen. Without thinking, without hesitating _to _think, I did what I could do, the _only _thing I could do. No one could get mad about it, because right now, all it would do is make him invincible.

He was out then, but not dead. Just unconscious. This would not only make him invincible but heal his current wounds.

If I thought about it, I would hesitate, and hesitation could kill him. So, instead of thinking about it, I just moved us to the backseat, in case someone _did _show up, and I started preparing us both for it.

You can probably guess...

I wasn't sure what I could do after that but hope, but pray. I didn't wanna move him anymore, in fear it might mess something up, so instead, I just sat in the driver's seat, contemplating what to do.

That's when Daddy, Sam, Alex, and Momma showed up, which didn't surprise me. I honestly should've been expecting it.

They saw my tears, saw the way I looked at them as if nothing was right anymore. It was official for me—I would live. But, would he? Was it too late? If I lived and he died, what would the point be anymore? I would live forever all alone.

"Ari," Daddy breathed, his voice quiet and almost a cry of pain. He was looking into my eyes, deep into my eyes.

"I didn't want Elli's last moment to be the last thing I ever saw," I whispered, my voice breaking as I said it. My words only slightly hurt Alex, because I knew he was getting over it. I was crying, though. "But I would much rather that be my last sight than seeing what I already have."

"You can see?" Alex asked quietly, almost reluctantly.

I didn't get to answer him, though. Suddenly, he started panting like I had never heard him do before. I didn't know what to think.

The sound of him panting scared me, only slightly. His heartbeat was fast, much too fast for him to be just a human. It made me wonder if it had worked, to the point I looked over at him, his eyes staring straight above him in wonder.

He was alive.

"Seth!" I exclaimed, jumping back there with him and landing on him, hard. He groaned a little, but didn't really care much. I kissed him, with more passion than I ever remembered, before pulling back and hugging him tightly. "Don't you _ever _do that to me again!"

He let out a soft breath that sounded like a laugh, although I could tell he was exhausted—meaning it worked. "I have a feeling I won't be able to ever again."

I smirked at him. "Nope. You're stuck with me forever and ever."

"As if I wasn't already," he teased, smirking at me now. "Ari, I wasn't going anywhere."

"And you certainly aren't now," I said firmly, tapping the end of his nose lightly.

Daddy frowned at us. "Um...what's going on?"

We looked at each other, and I turned back to him with an innocent smile. "Well..."

"Ari, cut the crap and get to the point."

"I had to," I insisted. "I didn't want to yet, but I had no other choice. He was literally _dying_, Daddy, and I couldn't just let him die, especially when I had the power to save him. So, I tried it, and it worked, and it won't happen again until we're married. I swear."

Momma smirked at me. "Nope, Ari, I think it will. Trust me when I say, things are gonna get really hard now. You're pretty much not gonna be able to resist."

Daddy scowled at her. "Thanks for pointing that out, Max, really."

Alex burst out laughing. "Ha! Ari's not a virgin anymore!"

I hissed at him. "Can it, Alex."

He just smirked and took off towards the house.

I turned back to Seth with a curious look, admiring everything about him now that he was healed and completely like he was before—except better, even. Now, he was my world, my everything, more so than before. Now, everything I truly cared about was him. That was it.

Seeing his face again was something I would never take for granite. Being able to see wasn't either. I had learned so many things when I lost my eyesight, things that would help me even now that I can see again.

"So, where exactly were we headed?"


	8. 07: Jealous

**sorry it's taking so long to update. i'm gonna work on the next chapter NOW and get it up ASAP. i swear. the song in chapter 6 was _All Around Me _by Flyleaf, which is actually what i'm listening to now. XD**

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**You've got me...

Spinning like a DJ  
Don't care what they say  
Every minute, every day  
I'm waiting for the moment

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"I must say, the pigtails are super adorable."

My cheeks turned a slight rosy color as I smiled up at Seth, who was looking down at me with shining eyes.

"How can you see again?" Garrett asked eagerly as he sat down across from us at our usual lunch table. "Not that I'm complaining, because that's awesome, but how?"

I looked up at Seth, who had his arm around my waist and the brightest smile—my favorite smile—plastered on his lips, before glancing back at him. "Well, I fell last night—no surprise—and hit my head. Daddy thinks that's it. He thinks because I hit my head super hard again that it reversed the injury from the last one, or something." I rolled my eyes but grinned. "He started talking medical talk, and I just got so confused."

He snorted. "Nothing new."

I stuck my tongue out at him but couldn't stop myself from looking back up at Seth—_my _Seth.

In every sense now. He was stuck with me now, forever, and I didn't have to worry anymore—not as much anyways. I actually worried _more_ for the time being, because I wasn't able to be with him every waking moment, but it wasn't as hard on me.

So much stress was just taken off of my shoulders last night.

He kept his eyes on me, but his head nodded towards Seth. "So, what's up with lover boy over there? Why is he so...happy?"

I laughed. "I got my eyesight back, Garrett. Is he not allowed to be happy for me?"

He shook his head. "It's more than just the fact that you can see again."

I started to reply, but before I could, the bell rang to go to class, and Seth jumped up, eyes on me and smile even brighter.

"Come on, Ari."

I hooked my arm into his and smiled at Garrett, who was grinning and slowly shaking his head. "I'll see you at the pep rally, mmkay?"

He just nodded and walked off, grinning and mumbling, "Boy's done went and lost his damn mind," under his breath.

"Ha," I teased as I turned back to face forward, hugging his arm tightly. "You're now crazy."

He snorted. "He doesn't understand; never will."

"Nope," I agreed before standing up on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek softly. "He never will. So, what did your parents say?"

He sighed. "They said you can have me weekends, and you can come over there weekdays, since I'm about to graduate and everything. After I graduate, they said we could stay at your place." Then, he frowned. "But, they have one rule. We have to sleep in different rooms."

I scowled. "That's not cool."

"But better than nothing," he sighed, nodding. Then, he grinned. "Dad was pretty cool about it, though. When I explained what happened and _how_, he just laughed and said, 'Who woulda thought it would be in the back of a truck that my son losses his virginity?'"

I felt my cheeks turn a bright pink. "Well, it was either that or the middle of the road, and I was _not _doing it there."

He chuckled darkly, his laugh deep and husky—full of desire. "Your mom was right, Ari. I don't know if it's gonna be possible to wait as long as we have to for our wedding. Seriously? That's a _long _time."

"I know," I agreed, pouting. "But, we have to, Seth. Your parents are counting on us, and Daddy is too." I grimaced. "Momma, Ella, Nudge, Angel, Alex, and Alli are all betting on how long it'll be."

"What about Sam?"

"What _about _Sam?" I heard her voice ask brightly behind us, making me smile brightly and turn towards my absolutely gorgeous best friend/sister.

"I was telling him about the bets going on, and he asked what you were doing, since you're the only one who truly thinks I can do this," I said honestly.

"Oh, I know you can," she said simply, shrugging. "So, Seth, how pissed were your parents last night when you told em?"

"They weren't pissed about that, at all," he said truthfully, shrugging. "They realized that it was that or dying, and they _quickly _picked that. The thing that pissed them off was the fact that some asshole was drunk, driving in the wrong fucking lane, hit us, and then just drove off."

I sighed. "And there's nothing we can do, because we didn't report it. We couldn't. Things would be questioned, and things simply _can't _be questioned."

"I know, Ari," he agreed.

Sam bit her lip. "Well...you say there's nothing we can do...but we kinda already did..."

"What did yall do?" I gasped, gawking at her. "Sam, where were you and Iggy last night when I got home?"

She bit her lip. "Let's just say we made sure that asshole got caught. We called him in, and he had, like, 1.4 blood-alcohol content."

"Wow."

She nodded. "So, yeah. Nothing serious. We just made sure he got caught; that's all."

"That'll make Dad feel a little better," he sighed.

We went into Spanish then, and things got _boring_—except for the notes Sam and I passed, or Seth and I did.

It was pretty great! Haha.

Then, pep rally time came, and I got scared—terrified even. Alex, Sam, Seth, and I were being put on the spot today.

You see, the cheerleaders have all come up with, um, clever costumes for us to wear Thursday on costume day, and they'll announce them today. The school will then choose which ones they want.

So, we _have _to wear what they pick. The worst thing is, Lindsey's dad is the principal, so he's willing to give her _whatever _she wants.

So he approved _everything_.

During gym, it was pretty fabulous. The football team, since there was a pep rally and all, they had a light, inside practice. Honestly, I think Coach was just being nice for me, cause he loves me and all.

Cause Seth was practicing in black athletic shorts. The end.

Ah...

It was amazing and oh so awful at the same time, because girls were _swooning _over _my _Seth. I had been used to it before—never liked it and always got jealous, but used to it. Now? It made me absolutely _furious_.

"Whoa," Piper said slowly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Breathe, Ari. It's all a part of having a gorgeous boyfriend. Everyone's gonna swoon over him—especially when he's sweaty and shirtless, like he is now."

Kelsi let out a soft moan of desire. For some reason, hearing my friends amaze over him didn't piss me off, but it did other people—especially the cheerleaders, who were also, unfortunately, in here. When Lindsey said, "Seth is _so _gorgeous and _so _gonna be mine by the end of week," I almost killed her.

But, then, Coach decided to cut thirty whole minutes early, because he thought that was _plenty_.

Really what it was, he looked over at me and saw how pissed off I was, so he did what was best for everyone—mostly me—and stopped it.

Seth hurried over beside me and sat down, followed by Garrett, Zack, Josh, and Jake. Some others were headed over here, but I didn't really pay attention.

He laughed softly. "Relax, Ari. You honestly have nothing to worry about."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like I was worried about that."

"So, what is it?"

My eyes narrowed up at him. "Really? Really, Seth?"

He seemed confused, and slightly irritated by my aggravated tone; but he got it then, and he winced. "Sorry, Ari."

"Don't be," I said honestly, shrugging. "I just have to get over it."

"That doesn't hardly seem fair."

"Let it go," Garrett commanded, glaring at him. "_Never _give a woman control. Man, if you do that, then she's gonna go telling all of her friends about it, and they're gonna want some of this control thing, and then, next thing you know, men will all be slaves, and women will control everything."

Kelsi glared at him.

Oh yeah; irony. Kelsi and Garrett are about to date. They're talking right now, and Garrett told me that he was gonna ask her to the after party Friday night and ask her then. It was pretty cute how he planned to do it.

He smiled sweetly. "I was totally just kidding."

Seth busted out laughing. "Damn, Garrett. See? That's quite sad. You two aren't even dating yet, and she's already got you wrapped around her finger."

He stared up at him disbelievingly—all of the guys did. Kelsi, Piper, and Hayley just laughed.

"You have no room to talk," Garrett snorted. "If I do recall, you were whipped from day one!"

"I was not!" Seth protested, but right as he did, Principal Williams spoke over the intercom.

"Will all of the homecoming nominees please report to the gym at this time?"

I let out a quiet groan before standing up, something Seth mimicked. "Can I count on you guys to be nice?"

Kelsi smirked. "Nah; I'm thinking the naughtiest thing possible."

Seth's eyes widened. "Please no."

Everyone grew silent as they gaped at him, eyes wide too. It was as if he had just told them he was the prince of England or something.

Haha. I made a funny!

Thinking about that actually made me laugh as Seth started to explain his logic, which I already knew, but he stopped when they all looked over at me, completely confused.

"Just thinkin'," I said honestly with a grin before turning and running into the locker rooms, where I snapped into my other clothes—due to my rush to get back to my Seth—and ran back out.

"Damn," Kelsi said slowly, frowning. "How did you—never mind."

"You cheated this time?" Garrett gasped in fake surprise. "I never thought I'd see the day."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I have my reasons."

Seth kissed my cheek before pulling the t-shirt in his hands on, making girls around him literally sigh. Right about then, Alex and Sam walked through the door.

Sam, of course, ran to me and hugged me tightly, a wince on her face. "I'm so, so, so sorry, Ari! That's all I'm saying!"

And then, she ran back to Alex, who was walking across the gym to the other side.

Oh shit. That's not a good outlook on things.


	9. 08: Choices

**here you go. =) the song in chapter 7 was _Where Is My Head _by Hey Monday off of their new cd, Beneath It All. That cd, the 6 songs i've heard off of it anyways, is AWESOME! anywho, here's the next chapter.**

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**I'm alive, I'm alive  
That's what I say  
I'm alive, I'm alive  
And I'm gonna live today

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"Hey, guys!" Lindsey said eagerly into the microphone. Her peppiness scared me today. Usually, it annoyed me, but not today.

Today, she was _too_ excited.

"I need your help bringing out your 2010 Homecoming king and queen nominees!" she exclaimed. And, when everyone started loudly cheering, we walked out in the center of the gym, with Zack following behind us. "And now, I'm giving the mike to the co-captain, Zack Walker."

People cheered, both guys and girls alike, because Zack was a funny, cool, really easy going guy. Most people really did like him.

He laughed as he held up the piece of paper with the costume choices. "This cracks me up. We'll go with the guys first, though, because those just aren't as funny." He snorted. "Except for the swimsuit model one, which is choice number one for Seth. Choice number two? Prince Charming." He snorted. "That's funny."

"Funnier than you know," I whispered, which only Seth heard and grinned about.

But, of course, Sam heard, and she gasped before covering her mouth. I didn't hear choice three, because I was focusing on telling her, _Don't tell a soul!_

"And four, an Auburn football player," Zack said with a nod. "Right, because that's so completely out there and not something Seth would actually do." Then, her laughed. "So, if you want Seth to be a swimsuit model, scream loud."

Every girl in the room screamed—as loudly as they possibly could. The football team did too, just to make me mad.

Zack laughed. "Yeah, buddy. I doubt I even have to go on after that, but I will anyways. Prince Charming?"

A few people cheered for that, but pretty much no one did.

Seth sighed. "I'm sorry, Ari."

Sam snorted. "She's gonna love that, Seth."

"A pumpkin?" Zack asked curiously, laughing, before raising his hand. "That's where my vote is!"

More guys in the school voted for that, but it still had _nothing _on swimsuit model.

"And, then, finally, an Auburn football player?"

"War Eagle," I whimpered. "This is gonna kill me. It was bad enough during gym, but all day? I'm gonna die!"

"That's the point," Lindsey sneered beside Alex, who just turned towards her and gave her the coldest glare. She rolled her eyes at him. "Back off, freak."

I started to stride towards her to kick her ass, and Sam did too, but Seth pulled me back, and Alex held her back.

"Ooh," I heard Zack say brightly. "Cat fight, which brings us to Sam's first choice, Catwoman!"

Sam gaped at him. "What? She's, like, a slut!"

"I think that's the point," I said icily, giving Lindsey a harsh, threatening look. "You really don't wanna start this war."

She smirked at me. "Looks like you already have, bitch."

"Option two, a sexy pirate," Zack said with a grin, glancing over at Sam to see her face glowing red with fury. "Haha. Option three, a sexy sailor. Or, option four..." he frowned as he read it. "A teddy bear?"

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed quickly, smiling brightly at the student body. "I've always wanted to be a teddy bear. Please, please, _please_?"

"A?"

That got a lot of votes, mostly from guys, but I doubted it would win.

"B?"

Even more, still mostly from guys.

"C?"

Not so many, but mostly girls.

"D?"

None.

Sam gaped at them. "Are you _serious_?"

"Oh, it gets worse," Zack informed her. "You're lucky, Sam, honestly." He winced. "Seth…don't kill anyone."

Seth's teeth ground together. "I. Just. Might."

"Seth," I said warily before grabbing his arm softly and catching his attention in an instant.

"Before we go to the worst one, let's go with Alex," Zack suggested with a nod. "I'm just gonna call them out really quickly. A, sexy cop; B, swimsuit model; C, football player,"—that made Zack laugh, along with me—"or D, Mafia boss. On the count of three, everyone shout out their vote."

"D!" was the most predominate shout of all of them, but I heard some A's and B's in there. C was either not voted for at all, or only one or two people voted for it.

"Mafia boss it is," he said brightly, smirking over at Alex. "Have fun with that."

Alex grinned at him. "Oh, you _know _I will."

Zack then winced. "Um, well, for Ari, we have…football player." He sighed. "The only one that's not gonna piss Seth off."

I tapped my chin in thought, temporarily ignoring that last addition. "Who is willing to let me borrow their pads?"

"Me!" I heard all the guys exclaim from the team section; not in unison though. I just laughed.

"You can borrow mine," Zack input, smirking at me. "Assuming that, you know, the school is actually nice and picks A."

"Or mine," Seth agreed, scowling. "But, either way…it'll look so weird on you."

I grimaced. "Yeah. I'm not really built to be a football player. Well, I don't _look_ like I am."

"Yeah," Alex scoffed, which made Sam grin and nod in agreement. "You definitely are." He looked at Zack. "She's better than all the guys at the house. It's hilarious."

I just stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms.

"Option b," Zack said slowly as he read it off of the paper. "Bikini model, which would fit, since her boyfriend…" he snickered. "Is a swimsuit model."

There were some guys in the crowd nodding approvingly, and my eyes widened in horror."Let's go with something else," I suggested brightly, nodding with tightly clenched teeth.

Zack laughed. "Well, you might like option B better after the next one. C, a lingerie model."

The team all cheered, and my mouth fell wide open as I turned to face them, one finger pointed towards them. "NO! Don't you dare!"

Seth laughed and pulled me close. "Aw, baby. It's okay. I'm sure they're not _that_ mean." Then, he frowned. "Well, never mind. I've heard things that change that."

I shuddered. "I don't wanna know."

Zack grinned at him. "Oh yeah. The locker room _definitely_ changes that."

Seth nodded. "When she's not in there. Well, sometimes she is when they say stuff."

I frowned. "Do you mean the stuff like, _'Seth, when are you and Chase gonna fuck?'_ Because, they ask me that every day now, just to make me mad." I laughed. "It's actually rather funny.

Sam smirked at me, and without a single bit of doubt or uncertainty, I knew she was thinking, _"Last night."_

I frowned at her but then grinned back. "Duh."

"Wouldn't shock me if they already have," Lindsey whispered to one of her cheerleaders, right after I got the word out. "That's why she gets so defensive and is all over him. God, it's disgusting."

I crossed my arms in anger. Sure, we had, but it was for a good reason. It's not like I'm just like her and sleep with guys just for fun. It was to save his _life_.

"Can I refuse?"

"No!" Lindsey called loudly across the room. "Part of being Homecoming Queen!"

"You'd love it then," I muttered under my breath, something only Sam, Alex, and Seth heard—which they all three laughed about. Then, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Wait. This..." my eyes widened. "Don't read the forth one. She did..." I grit my teeth. "Zack, what's D?"

"And option D," he said nervously into the mike before reading it. "Holy shit. Uh...let's go with A, B, or C."

I whimpered before hugging Seth's arm. "Zack, how bad is it?"

"You gotta call it out!" Lindsey informed him. "Or I will!"

He sighed and lowered the mike from his mouth. "Sorry, Ari. I tried." Then, he brought it back up. "Option D."

I grimaced as he swallowed.

"Here, it says the Seduction Fairy. Description…the slutty, black winged fairy. She has on seducing makeup, she styles her hair in a sexy way, she has black wings, and she has on sexy lingerie." He looked over at me. "Sorry, Ari."

"Lindsey, you little bitch!" I shouted as I turned to face her. "Do you just honestly...?" I stopped myself before taking a deep breath. "I'm calm. I'm calm. Don't kill her yet."

"That's my baby girl," Seth said encouragingly before kissing the top of my head. He put his arm around my shoulders and leaned down to where he was whispering in my ear. "Honestly, baby. I'm voting for A."

I smiled weakly up at him. "Thanks. No one else will."

"Option A?" Zack asked curiously, but I could tell that's not the one he wanted.

"Yeah!" Alex cheered, along with Seth, but they were the _only _two in the _entire _room.

"Oh come on!" Seth exclaimed. "Please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"

People laughed, but no one cheered.

Seth's shoulders sank in defeat as he looked truly pissed and depressed. "Well, fuck. I tried."

"Oh, Seth," Alex said teasingly before laughing. "We all know the truth. You don't want A either."

"I do too," he said firmly, nodding. "She has to walk around all day like that!"

Sam laughed. "That _would _be your only reason."

Seth nodded firmly, unashamed. "Yep."

I laughed before looking at Zack. "Go on, since A got two votes." I stuck my tongue out at Sam. "Traitor."

Zack chuckled. "B?"

There were a few dozen people, but not many. Most of the few dozen were girls, one of which being Sam, but there were a few guys. I guess now, either way, I was gonna be a tramp tomorrow.

My mouth fell wide open. "NO! No, no, no, _NO_! Please? I'll beg."

They all just laughed.

"C?"

A _lot_ of people cheered. It sent chills to my spine.

"Where the hell am I supposed to get lingerie?" I asked loudly, pouting now. "I don't own any, for those of you wondering."

"Shocker there," Lindsey mumbled.

"Take Seth and go to _Victoria's Secret_," Zack suggested. "No, even better. Take the team to _Victoria's Secret_."

"Yeah!" the guys cheered behind me, and I whimpered.

"Great. So I'm the team's groupie now. Just _great_."

Seth shook his head firmly, eyes and fists tight. "No. You're not. They just _think_ you are."

"Oh, okay," I said brightly before nodding and giving him a smile. "That works."

"Wouldn't shock me," I heard Lindsey muttered behind me from where she was sitting. "She probably would be more than willing to be."

I just rolled my eyes and looked up at Seth for reassurance. Despite the fact that he hated this with every part of his being, he winked down at me to cheer me up, and I bit my lip to hide the smile.

"Option D?" Zack asked curiously.

D..._won_. There were _many_ people who cheered for that. A lot of girls, I guess since it's fairy, and either way you go, it's slutty, besides the one that would look weird; and, the ones who cheered the loudest...

The football team.

I turned to face them with the darkest, iciest glare I had ever given any of them—besides Matt. "Oh my tigers! You guys are _so_ dead! I'm gonna kill you all and dance on your fucking graves while singing the hallelujah chorus at your funeral!"

They just smiled sweetly, waved innocently, or laughed at me as I turned back to the school.

"Don't encourage them, please?" I pleaded. "I struggle with them enough. They're so..." I looked up at Seth. "What's a good word for you guys?"

He laughed. "I honestly don't think there is one."

I groaned again. "So, Seduction Fairy? What the hell?"

Stupid. Lindsey. Is. Gonna. Die.


	10. 09: Desires

**sorry it took so long to get this up. things have been...well, it doesn't matter. i have a reason, but it's not important. anyways, here you go. i'll try to update better. the song for THIS chapter is Maybe by Sick Puppies, and the song in the last chapter was _Alive _by Superchick.**

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I stared at the mirror in horror, not sure whether to scream or ask Jessie for some sort of robe to wear over this. Honestly, I wanted to disappear.

Jessie giggled behind me, actually surprising me a little. "Dang, Ari. I never knew it was possible for you to be so taunting. I mean, sure, you don't exactly give off the 'nice girl' vibe, but this isn't even you!"

There _would _be a knock on the other side of the door right about then, something that made me jump a little in surprise. She was probably expecting it, and I _should _have been, because I knew Seth could hear. He had supersonic hearing at least.

"I wanna see!"

"It's not appropriate for you to see," Jessie sighed, truly looking disappointed in that fact knowing that I _had _to do this. "But you have to."

"You're right, I do," he agreed. "And I'm not even gonna try to pretend that I mind, cause I don't—at _all_."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door just enough to stick her head out. "That's because you're a boy, and boys are stupid."

"Yes they are," I agreed, not bothering to mumble it under my breath.

Momma had tried to convince Daddy to let Seth come with us, just because she wants to test us and win the bet, but Daddy refused, and Ella and Nudge backed him up, because it doesn't support their bet. Of course Sam agreed, and Alex was just _ticked_—along with Iggy...and Sean...and Gazzy...and Jesse. Just about everyone was, except for Momma and Alli. Personally, _I _didn't mind, because I partially wanted him to be there. But, at the same time, I did, because I wanted Sam to be right. I wanted to be able to say I held strong.

So, instead, all the girls went, and they voted on the sexiest, the prettiest, and the most appropriate.

Guess which one we got. Just take a wild guess.

Yeah; the sexiest.

But, it was only slightly a little bit almost close to nearly being somewhat okay because it looked awesome. It was basically a lingerie version of my style.

Pretty cool if you ask me.

It was a short dress, shorter than anything else I owned—anything I wanted to own, really. It came _**nine**_ inches above my knee, which is super short. It was strapless, and the top was a zip up corset deal—black satin with red silk as the bottom layer. The skirt was lacy and fluffy, and to go underneath it, I had on a pair of black fishnet pantyhose and a pair of black knee high hooker boots with red ribbon lacing up the back, or so it looked anyways.

He laughed, a laugh full of a now seemingly usual desire. It was something I was used to at this point. "I'm probably imagining something way worse."

"Your petty human imagination has _nothing_ on me," I said firmly as I pulled the door open, frowning at him. Instantly, he shifted to something completely different—from that confident husky, sexy guy to a horny, sexy teenager.

I smirked up at him, knowing I was exactly right. But, instead of saying anything else, I took off running past him and downstairs, before he could even get a good look at me. All he saw was my hair and my mascara, which was the only makeup I had on.

My hair was left natural, but Jessie sorta teased my roots to give my hair more volume. It was awesome.

When I got to the bottom, I put on my backpack and turned to find Seth's parents both gawking at me. His dad, though, started laughing after a little bit.

His mom, though, was just gawking.

I bit my lip as Seth stumbled down the stairs after me, still looking at me the same way he had been when I opened the door. Jessie was gracefully bounding down the stairs behind him, giggling at how funny he was acting.

What can I say? He's about to be eighteen, and while conscious, he doesn't know what its like. Yet, he now desires it more than anything else, more than he ever realized he would.

Imagine what it's like for me. I was conscious and aware of everything—how it felt, what was happening; everything.

"You're not going," he finally decided, grabbing my hand and pulling me back up the stairs. "I refuse."

"Seth, I have to," I demanded.

"Call in sick?" he suggested. "_Please_, Ari. Don't go to school like this."

"I'm going, Seth," I said firmly. "I'm sorry, but I have to. And, don't worry." I kissed his cheek quickly. "But, we should go."

His mom finally smiled. "Have fun, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mrs. Moore," I began to say, but she cut me off before I could go on.

"Ari, dear, call me Elizabeth," she disagreed, smiling. "I'll see you two tonight? Seth, do you have any plans after school?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We'll be back most likely around nine, possibly later, but it'll be something like that. I'll let you know if that changes."

She smiled at him, obviously seeing what he meant. It made me curious, so I turned to gaze at him with a baffled look. He, of course, just gave me that irresistible smile and wrapped his arms around my waist, no longer looking down at me with desire; although other reasons showed me that he still wanted me, even if I didn't actually know him better than I even know myself.

I rolled my eyes up at him, but even his family knew the bright smile I had on my lips was unstoppable. So, they just all laughed at me as I stalked outside, throwing a false temper tantrum. They all knew why I was getting him outside, including Seth himself, but only Seth followed.

I love how much his parents trust us. Daddy won't even let us leave the house alone anymore. He comes with us, or he sends Iggy. Before, he sent Sam, but after a few hours, he realized that she was gonna let us be free, so he came after us. Sure, he couldn't figure out where to get in or just where the tree was, but when we came back, he refused to let us go alone.

Seth pinned me against his truck, hard, and in an instant, he was cradling my face in his hands, looking at me with an odd desire. It was something new, something I had never seen from even him. Here I thought he wanted me in all of the worst ways possible, in every way possible. I was wrong it seems.

Now, this desire was out of pure love. He didn't seem to care what kind of body I had. To me, it seemed like if I was short, hefty, and had no boobs, he wouldn't care. He would still want me.

Which made me glad that I wasn't any of those things.

I wanted to ask him where we were going after school today—demand it even. But, as I continued to stare up at him, I knew that wasn't gonna happen.

Even if I had decided to ask, he was kissing me before I could, so I didn't really get a choice.

I could _definitely _get used to this.


	11. 10: Fantasies

**sorry. it's just an amusing filler chapter until the pep rally. sorry, but i like it. C= well...i'm not sure if i'm gonna do the pep rally or not. i might, might go straight to after football practice-their date.**

**i don't know yet.**

**

* * *

**

Yeah. Usher (that's the chapter song, btw)

* * *

Things got...interesting, to say the least. Today, the football players _and _the cheerleaders were in there. The football team was in there for me, of course, because they all wanted to see me, and the rest of the day, I was hiding from them behind a jacket and sweats. But, not in gym. I couldn't.

I _would _have if I had known they would be in there, but...well...

Kelsi was texting Garrett; no surprise. "So, I think Garrett might ask me out today."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I just really, really want him to, because I actually like this guy, Ari."

I smiled. "I'm glad. Garrett's amazing."

"That he is." She suddenly got bright and eager, eyes wide. "You can ask him! Ari, this is perfect! He trusts you! You're, like, his best friend...you and Seth anyways. You could see if he wants to ask me out or what's going through that thick skull of his!"

"Speaking of which," Piper piped up.

Haha. I just had to say it.

I glanced up from Kelsi to see the team all standing in the doorway, smirking at me—except Seth, of course. If he was doing anything, he was glowering at me. Well, it wasn't so much _me _that he was glowering at.

If I had to guess, it was his bitch of an ex in front of me, talking overly loud about how good I was at dressing like a slut, blah, blah. Whatever.

I wasn't really listening that well, because I really didn't care.

Seth ran over and nearly tackled me in a hug. "Go. Please."

I sighed. "I can't. Coach isn't in here, and the locker room is locked."

His bottom lip poked out. "Damn."

I kissed him softly with a smile. "It's okay. Now you know how I feel."

"I know."

Garrett was the first one over here, and he was laughing. "Seth, man, you know you can't hold onto her forever. Eventually, you're gonna have to let her go so you two can fuck, remember?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't have to let her go right now. And, you're forgetting the get married part."

Garrett laughed. "Oh yeah. I forgot. You two are being weird and waiting to get married."

"That's not weird," I said firmly, pulling Seth tightly against me. "I have to stay here to shelter myself. When I say my boobs are basically jumping out of this thing, I'm not kidding."

Zack came behind Seth and pulled him away from me, but he wasn't alone. If he had been, Seth probably would've hit him, hard, but he wasn't. The entire team was standing there, gawking at me.

I turned and took off running to the other side of the gym, into the girls' bathroom, so they couldn't see. None of them had gotten a good glimpse of me, so they didn't know what I looked like.

Then I realized that Seth was out there...alone...with all of those swooning girls...

And, I mean, they'll see me eventually anyways...

Damn.

I found myself walking back out, shoulders slumped. When I did, I ran straight into Seth, who was gawking at me, shaking his head quickly. When my eyebrows furrowed, I raised my shoulders.

"When you do that," he breathed in my ear, voice seductive and husky. "You can see right down it. Damn, Ari...I..." he clenched his teeth together. "This is bad."

Before I could ask what he meant, I _saw_ what he meant, and I felt it poking against my stomach too. That's just how tall he was compared to me.

In case you haven't figured it out, I caused him to have another boner.

"This should get interesting..."

"You know what they're gonna say if they notice," I said quietly, making sure they couldn't hear us even as they approached. "Right?"

He winced. "I'm thinking I'll be shipped off to the locker rooms, you behind me, and they'll lock us in there for a while."

"Something like that, yes," I agreed. Then, a giggle erupted from my lips as Garrett put his elbow on my shoulder, using me as a prop while he gazed down at me, probably trying to see down my dress. Seth, of course, was _furious_, but I just stood on my tiptoes and whispered tauntingly in his ear, "You better hope it's gone by the pep rally. I might have to make it go away."

"Damn it, Ari, stop," he hissed, grinding his teeth together as he pulled me closer to him. "You are _killing _me."

"Just think about your grandmother naked."

His jaw dropped wide open in disgust, and I could see his face turn a slight shade of green. Honestly, he looked like he might puke, but I wouldn't know, because he took off running for the bathroom while I busted out laughing.

"Um…why did you just tell him to think about his grandmother naked?"

"No reason," I said lightly, smirking at them.

Jake snorted. "I don't mind thinking about his _sister_ naked. I mean, _damn_. I've only seen her once, but just that..." he shivered in delight. "I've had fantasies about that angel ever since."

"I love Jessie," I said brightly, trying to change the conversation. "Trust me, Jake. She's not your type...at all. Actually, I really don't think she'd go well with any of you. She's..." Seth was now standing behind me, no longer excited. He looked rather queasy still. I honestly don't blame him, because his grandmother—his dad's mom, the only one still alive—is rather big and wrinkly. Her boobs sag really, really bad. I'm not even kidding.

"I don't really know if there _is _a word to describe her," Seth admitted. "But, Jake, seriously? First my girlfriend, and now my sister?"

Jake smirked at him. "You don't wanna know what I've thought about your girlfriend and your sister doing."

I gaped at him in disgust. "You...wh..."

The rest of the guys over here busted out laughing—Jesse, Andy, Garrett, Josh, John, and Ryan. Seth, honestly, looked like he was about to jump Jake and kick his ass. Me, on the other hand...

"I'm so telling Jessie on you."

His eyes opened wide in horror. "You...but...she...s...what's she gonna do?"

Seth chuckled darkly under his breath. "Have you ever had a really hot chick yell at you?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Um...no...are you calling her sister hot?"

Seth shook his head. "No. I'm saying that _you _think she's hot, from what I heard you say earlier. When Ari yells at me..." a lustful grin spread across his lips. "It's _sexy_, but that just makes them mad when they see you undressing them with your eyes, so they yell more...it's not a good situation to be in, because eventually, they're gonna start beating you."

"I have never hit you without it being playfully," I disagreed.

"_You _haven't," he said honestly, nodding. "Jessie will, though. She's not an aggressive person until you make her mad. You? You're aggressive, but you would never hurt _me_."

"Touché."


	12. 11: You

**alrighty. so, here is chapter 11. sorry for the delay, once again. i hope you enjoy. :) and please, please, please review. it really does help. i know this chapter is short, but the next two you'll be receiving tonight won't be. promise.**

* * *

Taking everything for granted, but we still respect the time  
We move along with some new passion knowing everything is fine  
And I would wait and watch the hours fall in a hundred separate lines  
But I regain repose and wonder how I ended up inside  
Up inside

Can we fast forward to go down on me?

Stop there and let me correct it  
I wanna live a life from a new perspective  
You come along because I love your face  
And I admire your expensive taste and

* * *

The hot, smelly gym, now filling up full of my peers, was gradually getting smaller. It began spinning too, boggling my mind to the point my head started pounding. There wasn't so much pain as there was pressure that made me want to puke.

Crowds had never really been my thing, but lately I found myself able to overcome them and speak to them as if they were no big deal. But, when you find yourself practically in lingerie in front of almost the entire student body, crowds wouldn't be so great for you either...unless you're Lindsey. Then you wouldn't care.

Every eye was dead center on the floor, whether behind me or in front of me. The female population, for the most part, was swooning over...Alex. Yes. We'll go with that. The male population? Sam. Most definitely...

She rolled her eyes at me. "Yeah, right, Ari. The girls are swooning over Seth, and every straight guy is having some pretty nasty fantasies about you right n—"

"Shut it, Sam!" Seth, Alex, and I all hissed loudly, cutting her off. I didn't wanna know about the girls and Seth or the guys and me.

"Ari, Ari, Ari," Zack laughed, slowly shaking his head with a smirk on his lips; just to torment me, I might add. "I'm sure the teams' are the worst. We'd be happy to write them down for you so that you two can act them out tonight, if you'd like."

"You are about two seconds away from getting your ass kicked," I threatened, giving him a playful glare. It was enough, though, that he just grinned at me and turned the microphone in his hands up. "Wow, everyone. I have seen some interesting costumes today. To say the least. I'd have to say, though, that Miss Ari here takes the cake. That is really something."

The entire gym burst into loud cheers and whoops—the males—which made my cheeks burn with a more intense fire than I ever remembered. It got so bad, I buried my face in Seth's arm so I wouldn't cry.

I wanted to right now, so badly, but I was tougher than that. I didn't cry, especially not in front of people. Crying was a sign of weakness, a sign that I had already expressed enough. I wasn't gonna do it again, not in front of all these people especially.

"I'm imagining your limbs being slowly removed from your body with my bare hands," I threatened, keeping my face completely solemn so he didn't doubt me. "Then your dick being ripped off and shoved down your throat."

"We're announcing which candidates are in the lead right now," Zack informed the school. "Then, we'll let you all come down here, take pictures, and get the hell out of here."'

"Fuck you," I groaned, hugging Seth's arm tightly. "I say we run for it."

"Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed.

"Right now, your homecoming queen will be...Sam," Zack said slowly, slightly surprised. Sam was too, because she was gawking at him as if he was an alien from another planet. "And your king is Alex. Odd."

"This is backwards," Alex informed everyone. "See those two lovers over there? Yes. They're the ones that should be king and queen. Just look at how cute they are together."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Alex, have you _seen _how adorable you two are? I think y'all were made for each other. Just sayin'. My point is, they can vote for whoever they want, and it looks to me like they picked you, so," I stuck my tongue out at him, "there."


	13. 12: Silly

**the song from chapter 11 was _New Perspective _by Panic! At the Disco. **

* * *

When we got home, Seth took me by my house. He knew I wasn't going anywhere dressed like this anymore, and he needed to change too.

He looked over at me. "I'm gonna run home and change really quickly. I'll be back in about thirty minutes; forty-five, tops."

"Okay," I agreed, giving him a bright smile. "May I ask where we're going?"

"You can, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you," he smirked.

"Just tell me what I need to wear," I insisted. "Please, Seth."

"Whatever you want," he said simply. "Trust me, Ari. It really doesn't matter what you wear. I'm not just saying that because I don't care. I'm saying that because it really doesn't matter."

"Okay," I sighed before leaning over and quickly kissing him, his eyes remaining shut for a couple more seconds as I pulled away. When he opened them, I saw more joy than I remember seeing from him in a while.

"I love you, baby girl," he breathed, bringing my hand up to his lips to place a gentle kiss on it. "I want you to know that."

"I do know that, Seth," I informed him. "Just like you know that I love you too, with all of my heart."

He grinned. "I do. Now get out and go get ready. I've got plans for you tonight."

I nodded. "I'll be in the tree house. You know as well as I do that if Daddy finds out we were in there alone, we're as good as dead, so if I'm not ready when you get back, just go inside, and I'll be in as soon as possible. I should be, though."

"Will do."

And then I got out, rushing inside and into my bedroom, where I started frantically searching through my closet.

Nudge and Sam were both troubled by my frantic dash into my monstrous closet, where the terrible things they continued to fill it with rested. I had no idea what to do, what to wear. Daddy was frowning as he watched them freak out, pulling out dress after dress.

What worried me was the fact that they all knew what was going on tonight. Was it just a romantic evening back in his spot? I really hoped so. It was definitely something that would relax me, and it was something we hadn't done in a while, not since he gave me the roses—the first time.

A thought crossed my mind, but I dismissed it before I even got to think about it much. Instead of worrying as they freaked out, I just massaged my temples gently and walked over to my stereo, which I turned on and turned up. The first song to play was _What the Hell _by **Avril Lavigne**.

"You say that I'm messing with your head. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah," I sang, sitting by Daddy and placing my head on his shoulder. "All cause I was making out with your friends."

While they continued to throw anything they might find appropriate out, I was up singing at the top of my lungs, dancing, and forcing a smile onto Daddy's lips. It was the first smile I had gotten all day, because he hadn't been happy about what I had to wear today. Now, something else was bothering him.

I think he just doesn't like the idea of Seth and I being alone together.

Finally, Sam quickly tapped Nudge's shoulder, holding out a hanger with something bright electric blue. It looked like a shirt on the hanger, but when Nudge gasped and said, "The perfect dress!"

I realized otherwise.

"Dress?" Daddy snorted. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Oh, Fang, stop," Momma sighed in the doorway. "Leave it be. You know nothing is gonna happen. She's set. Can you please just trust them and give them some room to breathe? Things are less likely to happen if you do. I promise."

I nodded. "True story." I took the...dress...out of Sam's hand and the sparkly bright electric blue converse out of Nudge's hand. "Thanks guys. I've got it from here." And then, with a smile, I snapped myself into the tree house, where I snapped on the dress and shoes and looked over into my makeup mirror. I decided that for tonight, I wasn't gonna put any on. At all. I was gonna go completely natural, because why wear makeup when naturally, I look like I have a little on?

So, I snapped off all the crazy mess from today and looked at the dress. It came about eight inches above my knees. It was kinda like a tank top, with the three finger width sleeves, and it had diagonal stripes across it of cotton cloth and then shiny sequins—all electric blue. The sequins and the glitter on the converse worked perfectly together.

I was content with what I was wearing, even if it did make me look a little like a whore. Good news was, Seth would know Sam and Nudge picked it. More good news, he's seen more of me anyways just today.

I snapped myself back in my room, just in time to hear the song _Raise Your Glass _by **Pink **start playing. So, of course, I sang along.

"Right, right, turn off the lights  
We're gonna lose our minds tonight  
What's the dealio?" For that part, I did a body roll.

"I love when it's all too much  
5am, turn the radio up  
Where's the rock 'n roll?

Party crasher, penny snatcher.  
Call me up if you are gangster.  
Don't be fancy  
Just get dancy.

Why so serious?"

I then ran over to my bed and jumped on it, where I then began dancing crazily, yet still awesomely, I might add.

"So raise your glass if you are wrong  
In all the right ways, all my underdogs  
We will never be, never be anything but loud  
And nitty gritty, dirty little freaks  
Won't you come on and come on and  
Raise your glass!  
Just come on and come on and  
Raise your glass!

Slam, slam, oh hot damn  
What part of a party don't you understand?  
Wish you'd just freak out

Freak out already

Can't stop, coming in hot  
I should be locked up right on the spot  
It's so on right now  
It's so fucking on right now."

"You know, Ari, I would tell you that you've lost your damn mind, but I think you already know that," Seth informed me, leaning against my bedroom doorway with a grin. After completely surprising me, of course, because I had no idea he was there until he said something. "That's okay, though. I'm quite fond of the goofy."

"Good, because it's a part of the package," I smiled, turning to face him. When I did, I almost gasped. I didn't, though. Seeing him standing there in a pair of dark charcoal grey dress pants, a maroon button-up shirt with the top button unbuttoned, and a dark charcoal grey blazer—black shiny dress shoes—took my breath away, but I wasn't sure why.

It was sexy, though.

"Wow," he breathed, leaning in close so he could whisper this in my ear. "Sexy. You're half ready for tonight."

My eyes shot wide open, but I didn't question it, in fear they would overhear. So, I just followed him out and into the living room, where Alex made fun of him for being all dressed up like that. Sam just smacked him, though, and he grew silent.

_Oh yes. You've already got him whipped. Ha!_

Her eyes narrowed to slits, so I knew she heard me. Instead of replying, I just smirked at her and left, pulling Seth quickly to his truck.

"Eager much?" he laughed, his breath speeding up as he started his truck.

"I have no idea what you have planned, and I want to," I said quickly. "So, hurry up."

"First," he said gently, bringing my hand up to his. "Food."

I scowled. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that...now I have to be seen in public like this."

He frowned. "You look amazing."

"Amazingly like a whore," I sighed before snapping a pair of black leggings on. "Don't worry, Seth. They'll be gone as soon as we get done eating."

"They would be gone as soon as we get there anyways," he informed me, giving me an innocent look as my eyes widened.

"Seth..."

"Trust me, Ari," he said gently, taking my hand in his as he started to back out. But then, he frowned. "You know what? Forget this." He turned his truck off. "Why don't you just snap us there? Pick any restaurant, and you know where my spot is."

Yes! The spot!

So, I did. Eager to hurry and get it over with, I snapped us out behind the nearest Arby's.

Seth gave me a disbelieving look. "Are you serious? I say anywhere, and you pick here?"

I nodded. "I love their curly fries..."


	14. 13: Faith

**the song for this chapter is an entire song. It's _Still In Love (Kissing You) _by Beyonce. I've never heard it, but the lyrics fit, so yes. :) I'm almost done with the next chapter, but i decided to go ahead and put these three up so you wouldn't have anymore delay. i do really love this chapter. it's very passionate. the next one, though, is my favorite so far. :) just saying.**

* * *

Seth had already set everything up. I didn't know when or how, but I didn't really ask. Sometimes, part of the magic is the mystery of it all.

He had, surprisingly enough, a bottle of champagne sitting there waiting on us. I knew Seth's parents didn't mind him drinking, as long as he kept it under control, but I also thought he had stopped.

"Now, Ari, before you freak out again," he said gently, bringing my hand up to his lips so he could kiss it tenderly. "This is just for tonight. My parents actually suggested it. I have stopped drinking like I used to, but tonight is different."

"And why is that?" I asked curiously, giving him a bright smile.

He led us over to the blanket he had sat up, but he didn't make a move to sit down. Actually, he fumbled around in his pockets a little, a deep frown on his lips.

"Well, damn."

"What, baby?" I asked curiously before stepping closer to him and wrapping my arms around his waist. "What are you looking for?"

He held his finger up in the cliché, hold on a minute, kind of gesture as he continued pulling everything out of his pockets.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. "Are you shitting me?"

"Seth, sweetheart, just calm down," I said gently. "What are you looking for?'

"The one thing I _had _to have tonight, I left at home!" he groaned, knotting his fingers in his hair. "This is just perfect. There goes my perfect plan. I had this all planned out to be the most romantic proposal ever, but I left the fucking ring at home! I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, Seth," I assured him, unable to stop from smiling at how silly he was acting. The rest of his rant sank in, though, after a few minutes. "Whoa. Wait. What did you just say?"

"I said nothing," he mumbled before taking my hand in his, taking a deep breath, looking me straight in the eye, and getting down on one knee. "I have killed doing this the way I planned, so I'm just gonna wing it and hope for the best. Aria Samantha Lawrence, you are my world, my everything. By now, if you don't know this, I can say with full sincerity that you are an idiot. I love you, with all of everything I have inside of me. I could go on trying to explain to you exactly how I feel, but I just can't. Words simply cannot describe the way I feel about you. They just can't. I want you to know that I've thought this through, and I don't see a point in waiting. No; this is not just because I want—no, _need_—you as badly as I do. This is because I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my eternity with you, waking up to your beautiful face every morning, spending the entire day alone with you, doing whatever the hell we please. Ari, I love you, baby girl, and I always will until the last rose dies. So, yes. I'm gonna stop rambling and get to the point. Will you marry me?"

"Oh my tigers," I breathed, aware I was smiling brighter than I ever remember smiling. I might've smiled like this before, but I sure as hell didn't remember it. Either way, I didn't actually answer for a minute, which must've scared the hell out of him.

"Shit," he mumbled. "I knew this was too soon…everyone told me to go for it, but I knew it! Ari, just forget—"

"Seth, you know we're gonna get married eventually, so why the hell should we wait?" I asked curiously, cutting him off from his nervous rant. "And I don't wanna forget you said anything, because then you wouldn't have said the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. You wouldn't have asked me to marry you, and then I wouldn't be able to say yes."

His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't hesitate to pull me into an extremely tight hug, letting out a warm sigh of relief by my ear.

"I love you, Ari."

"I love you too, Seth," I laughed, kissing the side of his head. "You're a goof ball, though. Just relax, okay? And as for the ring, I'll be okay without one."

"No," he said firmly. "I have one, and you'll get it tonight. Trust me, Ari. You will."

* * *

I continued gazing up at the diamonds in the sky, twinkling with more intensity than I had ever seen them.

Seth wasn't looking up at the sky, though, but his gaze was locked on me. His body was turned towards me, and one arm was under me, giving me a neck prop almost. While I was content with watching the stars for the moment, he was content with watching me and playing with my hair.

"This is unreal," I murmured, loving the way his fingers instead moved from my hair to rub tenderly up and down my arm.

He grinned at me. "The night's not over yet, my love."

Before I could ask what he meant, he leaned over and softly kissed me, his fingers coming up to rest along my jawbone. It was a sweet kiss, full of more love than any kiss yet.

Of course, since I'm me, I made sure it got turned into much, much more. After a few seconds of kissing him like that, I turned it into a heated, passionate, intimate kiss, one that had him on his back and me straddling him.

What surprised me was when he pushed me off of him and took control on his own. I really didn't mind, at all. Actually, it was quite nice, especially when he was rough and pushed me too firmly back down, crashing his body into mine. He didn't mean to be rough; I knew that much. He was caught up in the moment of kissing me and wasn't even paying attention to how rough or gentle he was.

I couldn't wait until he was conscious next time. Oh man.

He pulled away from me suddenly, but before I had time to think about getting irritated with him, his lips moved to kiss up and down my neck, sucking and nibbling from time to time. What was _really _amazing was when he gently bit my ear and then started kissing my collar bone.

I felt his hands moving down to the edge of my dress. At first, it didn't click in my mind what he was doing. But, when he started pulling it up, I panicked.

"Seth," I gasped, pushing him gently away so I could sit up. "No. We're so close. I know this is only the first step towards marriage, but, baby, come on. We can do this."

"I know," he said gently before laying me back down. He positioned himself beside me so he could rub his fingers across my face. "Trust me, Ari. Please. We're not gonna have sex tonight, and I'm not gonna completely undress you either. I swear. If I did, I have no doubt that I wouldn't be able to stop myself. So, just trust me, okay?"

I just nodded and closed my eyes, temporarily shutting off my brain so Seth could do what he wanted to do without my desires to abstain from sex—that doesn't count—until we're married. As odd as this situation was, I trust Seth, and I just let him do whatever it was he wanted.

Very carefully, he pulled my dress up over my head, leaving me in the lacy, sexy bra and matching underwear I was forced to wear nowadays. Before, back before I was sixteen, I got to be comfortable and wear whatever kind of underwear I wanted.

Now that Nudge, Ella, Angel, and Alli got a hold of my closet? Ha!

I was trying my best not to shiver, but when I felt his warm breath over my belly button, I couldn't help it. I then decided the best thing would be to make my body warmer.

He just kissed my stomach tenderly, making a trail all the way up to the edge of my bra, which he skipped right over and kissed all the way up to my lips. It was a slow, loving process that left me, for lack of a better word, horny. Every fantasy was replaying in my mind at that moment.

But I managed to focus on his lips on mine as he suddenly turned up the intensity of the kiss. In this kiss, the whole world cracked wide open and spilled out everywhere, all over everything.

When he kissed me like this, I couldn't help but think that this is exactly what I have waited for my entire life.

It's that kiss, that one you lose yourself in. You realize that you don't want to kiss anyone else, and that you are truly in love; the world around you disappears except you and that person.

My entire world exploded, but when his head tilted and his arms wrapped around my waist, I didn't care. I didn't care if things went a little too far and we ended up making love in this spot.

I just didn't care. In this moment, I had everything. I had my entire world right here with me, kissing me with the intent of expressing nothing but the love he had for me. Even when he pulled away from me again and began kissing me from the top of my forehead down to my ankles, he wasn't trying to turn me on; although it was definitely working.

He was trying to show me that he was willing and could do anything I desired. Just one glance at his eyes, and anyone could see that he wanted to just rip the rest of my clothes off and have his way with me.

Like me, it was worse than ever before.

But, he knew what I wanted, and while he may have decided that it's not necessarily something he wants anymore, he's willing to wait, no matter how many temptations come his way.

He started to go right back up my leg, but I didn't let him; didn't give him a chance to. Before he could, I tackled him and began kissing him with my own passion, expressing my own emotions in a similar way as him.

It was the most amazing night of my life.


	15. 14: Movie Night

**:) like i said. this is my favorite chapter. i'm not so sure i like how it ends, but i couldn't think of a better way to end it. so, there ya go. oh! if you wanna see the ring, i'll put the link on my profile. **

* * *

Looking back on everything I've done  
I never thought I'd find the one  
To share the dreams that only I had seen  
Locked in the deepest part of me  
Hey, hey love

I took a chance to lay it on the line  
There was nothing left to hide behind  
If you never love then you may never lose  
And I hope I'll always be with you  
Now I'm screaming

* * *

We had to go home to get his truck, but we didn't go inside. I knew I was gonna get hell for it tomorrow when we got there, but I didn't have the ring, and that would be the first thing they asked to see. So, it was just easier to just go.

When the two of us pulled up into his driveway, I halfway expected for him to just get out. But, I was wrong. Instead, he leaned over and kissed me once more.

It was a soft, sweet, passionate, desired kiss, a kiss that had every emotion we had felt towards each other since day one wrapped up inside of it—and let me just say, there have been all kinds.

From my lips all the way to my toes, I felt electric. A tingling sensation swept over me, and it quickly changed into a high voltage electric current. I was a livewire, and that left me craving for more.

That thing, that moment, when you kiss someone and everything around becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person, and you realize that that person is the only person that you're supposed to kiss for the rest of your life, and for one moment you get this amazing gift, and you want to laugh and you want to cry because you feel so lucky that you found it and so scared that that it will go away all at the same time.

A kiss is not just a kiss. It's something that's so much more. When it ignites every passion inside you and makes you weak at the knees, when you're left sweating cause you are hot but the air conditioner is on, when your pressure rises and you're healthy as an ox, when your mind that was racing is now blank, when the world stops and all you hear are two hearts beating, then you've been kissed with a kiss that's truly a kiss.

And I just was.

Kissing him was like standing on the edge of the world. It was like all my best memories rolled into one. A song I couldn't live without. The sun on my skin. My wings spread wide, soaring high above the clouds.

It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell anyone about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I had never been so happy in my whole life.

He pulled away slowly, eyes still closed, and pressed his forehead gently against mine. "You are my life, Ari; my everything. I'm pretty sure you know this by now, but I want you to know that you are the girl I _will _marry and spend an eternity with. You are the girl I would go through fire to save; the girl I would risk everything for." He let out a short laugh. "I used to think that I hated you for making me want you as badly as I did, but I've come to realize that hate is the last word I would ever even think about possibly getting anywhere close to your name. You, Ari, mean more than the air I breathe. I sound like a stupid corny little fuck, but I don't even give a shit right now. Being with you has made me realize so many things I never understood, things I never knew. Like, for example. God gave us two hands to hold, two legs to walk, two eyes to see, and two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else, for us to find. That heart rests in you, Ari, just like your other heart rests in me. We belong together, you and me. I will never think of you as anything less than the most amazing person in the entire world."

I stared at him for a minute, thinking back over everything he said and smiling brighter and brighter each time. But, eventually, that smile went away, and I found myself frowning.

His eyebrows furrowed. "What, love?"

"What the hell am I supposed to say back? Ditto?" I sighed. "I mean, everything you said, I pretty much feel the same way, but just saying ditto sounds harsh, especially after something as incredible as that."

"You don't have to say anything," he assured me, now relieved to know that I loved what he just said. "Just knowing that you feel the same way is good enough for me. Now, let's get inside before they send the SWAT team out after us."

I snorted. "I wouldn't put that past your dad."

Seth grinned. "Me either."

When the door opened, we were actually surprised to find all of the lights in the house off. Even as we quietly made our way upstairs, up to Seth's room, no one came out. I knew I would have to go into my room, but I wasn't ready to yet.

He kissed me softly. "Go get ready for bed. We can watch a movie, or something like that."

"Okay," I agreed brightly before kissing him quickly and practically skipping out of his room to the one next door, which they said was mine. Just like he had a room at my house, I have one here, and we have clothes at each house. I frantically searched through my drawers for something cute and kinda sexy. What I found was a black, tight, lacy cami with a pair of soft, fuzzy, drawstring-waist bright electric blue—to match my eyes and hair, which had recently been cut to about shoulder length while curly—pajama pants. I also slipped on my fuzzy slipper boots, and then, once I made sure my hair still looked good, I walked back into his room, where he was putting a movie in his new DVD player. He was in a pair of athletic shorts. The end.

"Damn you," I murmured before crawling over on his bed and crossing my legs where I was sitting Indian style.

He glanced back at me with a grin. "What, baby girl?"

"As if I didn't want you enough," I smiled. "I'll be okay, though. Stay just like you are. It's very sexy."

He laughed softly before turning towards me, smiling lovingly down at me. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

One hand, his right hand, was balled up, clutching something tightly. If I had thought about it, I could've figured it out, but I didn't wanna think about it. I noticed it, though, as he crawled over beside me and pulled me back where I was laying on his shoulder. His left arm wrapped around me, and he opened the right hand to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever laid eyes on.

It was white gold, but it had a blue topaz oval diamond in the middle with two small tourmaline diamond circles beside it. The actual ring was unique in itself, because there were unique, very beautiful designs shaped into it, some resembling wings in a way.

Seth didn't hesitate to let me pick it up. Instead, he took my hand in his, brought it up to his lips, tenderly kissed it, and then slid the ring on the appropriate finger.

"You're mine, Ari," he whispered. His eyes weren't on me, though. They were on my hand, and, honestly, it looked like his eyes were tearing up at the sight. I had a feeling that was just my own eyes tearing up, and I was hoping he was too.

Before the tears could fall from my eyes, I quickly wiped them away and laughed. "I have been since the moment we first saw each other, Seth. You just didn't know it."

"True," he smiled brilliantly, pulling me closer to him so I was laying on his chest. "Damn. I forgot drinks and popcorn."

With a snap, I had us both our favorite drinks; for myself, there was a green amp, and for Seth, there was a regular Mountain Dew twenty ounce bottle; and a bag of well buttered, salted, and white cheesed popcorn—perfectly done, not too much of any one thing.

Seth laughed. "Right."

I kissed his cheek softly. "Love you, baby."

"I love you too."

And that was how I fell asleep; my head resting on Seth's chest, my body wrapped tightly in his arms, and my thoughts on my Seth.

My fiancé.


	16. 15: Jessie

**:D many thanks to Crazychick53, the anonymous reviewer who gave me the idea for Seth's present! i'm not sure if it's exactly what you were talking about, but...it still gave me the idea for it. C: i think it was though. anyways, the song from the last chapter was _Hey Love _by 12 Stones. amazing song by an amazing band. okay. here ya go. this might be a mean ending, but i'm sure you can guess what would've been said if it had've kept going. it leaves room for questions, though, and until chapter...probably 19 or 20, you won't find out the answers. **

**enough of that rambling. i really do move faster with reviews, because i have inspiration and reason to keep going. so, reviews are very much asked for and appreciated. C: thanks so much.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride or anything associated with it. (except this story and some of my other fanfics.) I DO own Seth, Ari, Alex, Sam, Lindsey, her parents, the Moores, the children, and Jessie. :D who has actually turned out to be rather awesome.**

**

* * *

**

It was you  
That showed me who I am  
And taught me how to stand for what I know is real

Now I'm breathing for the first time  
And I'm leaving all this behind  
I'll become what I am because of you

It was you

* * *

"You are _so _dead!" I heard Jessie squeak the next morning, something that confused me. From the way she was laughing, it didn't worry me too much, but it was enough to wake me up.

In Seth's bed...

Whoops.

I made a weak attempt to rub the rest of the sleep out of my eyes, but we had stayed up way too late last night. Yes, I slept better than I honestly ever remember sleeping, but still. Two and a half hours of amazing sleep can only get you so far when you've been having restless nights for the past few days, ever since you turned your boy—fiancé—into an immortal, making you restless without him right there with you.

You see, I've been worrying extra lately, because Seth isn't invincible yet. He's immortal and frozen just the way he is, but he's not invincible. He can still die.

Do you understand how terrifying that is for me? Yes; I'll still live, but I'll probably die from heartache. I'm not even kidding. But forget that. Honestly, that's the way I would prefer it.

Seth...dead...

It can't happen!

I looked at Jessie, smirking at a still shirtless Seth, who was actually in a pair of blue jeans with damp hair, meaning he had even taken a shower while I slept on. She looked like she was messing with him, but Seth wasn't really affected at all by it.

"Tell them. I don't give a shit."

"We all know better than that," she snorted. "I'm not telling them, Seth. I'm not the snitch we both used to be."

He gave her a suspicious glare, eyes narrowing only slightly. "What do you want then?"

"Just the pure enjoyment of tormenting you," she smirked. "And I want to see the ring."

"I showed you...oh wait, no," he corrected himself. "I showed you the first one."

She nodded. "Well, I wanna see the new one."

I yawned again as I stood up, shuffling my way over to hug him tightly. I gave her a bright smile and held my left hand out towards her.

When she saw the ring, she gasped loudly in surprise. "Oh my gosh, Seth! I thought you couldn't get any better than the last one, but this is absolutely beautiful! And so Ari."

"Exactly," he kissed the top of my head. "Now, you two, I need you to leave. I've gotta get ready."

"Okay," I agreed before kissing his lips softly. "Me too. Hey, Jess, can you do me a favor? I'll have to ask you about it in your room."

Seth's eyes narrowed as his head snapped over to look at me. "Why can't you ask her in here? Ari—"

"Don't even start with me," I threatened, giving him a firm look before smiling sweetly.

She nodded and quickly changed the subject. "Are you going to wear your ring?"

I glanced up at Seth, who just shrugged and stepped into his closet. Since I knew him as well as I did, I knew that meant it was up to me.

"I'm wearing it," I said with a nod. I could just _hear _the way Seth's heart sped up in excitement. It was all I could do not to laugh. But, instead of laughing, I followed Jessie into her floor.

"What is it, love?" she smiled. "Need help with hair? Makeup?"

I closed the door behind me and sighed. "I need your opinion on something."

Her eyebrows furrowed, but she nodded anyways and sat down on the first couch that was sitting near the door. Jessie's room was beyond huge. After all, it _was _an entire floor. But, either way, she had so much stuff in here, yet it didn't look like much at all. Her room was bigger than my tree house, and that's big enough to be an entire house.

The walls were a soft pink color, and she had it decorated in a pristine, frilly way. Only Jessie could pull this kind of thing off and it be okay, because she's just that amazing.

"It's about Seth's present..."

She sighed. "I wish I could help you there, Ari. I don't even know. He never tells anyone anything. He refuses to let us get him anything. None of us even know _what _to get him, because he _never _hints at anything. We make guesses, but I really don't think we've ever gotten him anything that he actually wants. You, on the other hand, might be able to do it. You know him better than any of us ever have."

My lips quirked to the side. "Ah. Well, he's not one for people spending money on him. You know that as well as I do. In a way, I spent money on him, but not really...you see, I got him this...well, okay. It will probably sound kinda cheesy, but there's this necklace my daddy gave me back when I was a little girl. It's a man's necklace. He gave it to me to give to the man I plan to marry, right? Well, Daddy got me a simple chain; nothing but the chain. So, I went out and bought something to go on it. It's a cross with a pair of wings wrapped around the back. In the center of the wings, there's a diamond heart. And this necklace is a pure titanium, dark charcoal necklace with the clear diamond. What do you think?"

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "My, my, my. You, Miss Ari, might have just found the cure to Seth's disease."

"Disease?"

She laughed. "Oh. That's right. You haven't heard it referred to as that. You see, I've told you about how none of us have ever gotten...yes. Well, we've referred to it as his disease that doesn't allow him to comprehend that people spend money on people they care about to make them happy. You, Ari, might have just found something that he won't mind the money spent. From the way you described it, I'm sure it cost a bit."

"Not too much," I said honestly.

"I think Seth is going to absolutely adore that," she assured me with a smile, placing a hand on my arm in a loving, tender gesture. "You just have no idea how happy I am that he's found you. Now, I have something to ask you. I've already talked to Seth about this, but he doesn't think it would be a good idea...I think so, but he doesn't. There will be a ball soon celebrating Seth's eighteenth birthday, and my grandfather really wants Seth to be there—for obvious reasons. Well, obviously, Seth won't be able to go that long without seeing you. I suggested bringing you along, and our parents even discussed it, but Seth flat out refused. That's why no one has mentioned it to you yet. It would occur over Christmas break."

"That sounds awesome," I said honestly. "As long as I won't be expected to dance or anything."

She winced. "That's just the thing. You _would _since you would be the girl he escorts and you are, after all, the future princess of England."

My eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't that this was news to me; it was just the first time the thought had actually registered in my mind.

Me...the princess of England...

Holy crap.

"Upon Mum's request, Grandfather has moved the date back to a day during your Christmas break," she said honestly. "But, Seth won't agree to it. Grandfather doesn't know this, because we don't want to tell him no. That would mean cancelling the whole thing, and so many people from Seth's past are looking forward to seeing him again. It would be tragic."

"Do you know why he says no?"

She sighed. "Yes. He's scared of mixing his past with his present and future. And he worries that you'll be freaked out by the treatment you'll receive when arriving there. I think he's also worried about you meeting our grandfather. I just…Ari, I think you need to talk to him about it. Obviously not now, or really even tonight. Maybe tomorrow? We have to call Grandfather tomorrow evening, and I want to be able to give him a firm yes. I understand if you truly don't want to. Dancing lessons might be rquired before hand."

"I think it sounds like fun," I said honestly. "The only thing I'm worried about is messing up and embarrassing your family. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a freak."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Don't worry, Ari. Just be yourself, and people will be thrilled to have someone new. You'll stand out, and you're such an easy person to love. You'll have no problem up there. Trust me." A grin spread across her lips. "I have another idea to spring on you."

"I'm all ears..."

"How do you feel about a wedding in England?"


	17. 16: Locker Rooms

**the song from chapter 15 was _It Was You _by 12 Stones. :) i love that band. anyways, here's the next chapter. i must have reviews for more.**

* * *

It's the perfect day  
And nothing's standin' in my way  
The perfect day  
Where nothing can go wrong

* * *

That day went by splendidly. Everything seemed to be perfect. Maybe it was just the happy bliss I found myself in due to the events that occurred last night.

I don't know. Either way, everything was flying by, and nothing was going wrong. I was acing all my tests, going through without drama, and even Lindsey wasn't saying a word to me.

How amazing is that?

Gym class came, and her usual lame attempts at insulting me came back. I ignored her, though, and ignored everyone else too.

Except my sexy fiancé playing football in the gym who was, once again, shirtless.

Kelsi was swooning over Garrett shirtless, but others were, of course, on Seth. I tried not to let it bother me, but it did. Coach, once again, spared me, and called it _way _early. Seth then proceeded to grab his t-shirt, run over to me, and eagerly kiss me—knocking me back, literally, to the point I had to cling to him so I wouldn't fall.

This super intense and amazing kiss didn't last long, because Lindsey stormed up and yanked him back. Well, attempted to. Either way, it broke the kiss. He just wrapped his arms around me and gave her an irritated look.

"Is there a reason you're all up in my space?" he asked curiously. "I was kind of in the middle of something."

"You are an _asshole_," she sneered. "You never even let me hold your hand when we were in public, and you _eagerly _kiss this whore!"

Seth rolled his eyes before looking down at me. "You know, maybe one day she'll get it through that empty head of hers that I never really cared about her; or that you're not a whore."

I scoffed. "Unlikely."

"Shut up, _Ari_," she sneered. "No one was talking to you."

"Actually, this sexy guy holding me, you know; my boyfriend? Seth? He was," I said simply with a nod. "Now, seriously, take that ugly little face of yours—the rest of ya too—back over to your cheerleading squad before things get unnecessarily ugly."

With a roll of her eyes, she turned to leave, but not before saying, very threateningly, "I swear to you, Ari Lawrence, I _will _get revenge for all the wrong you've done to me."

"All the wrong I've done to _you_?" I gasped before reaching out, grabbing her arm, and holding her in place while I talked. "Okay. Fine. If it makes you happy, I'll admit to stealing Seth from you. There we go. Okay, I've done _one _thing to you, and I didn't even do that on purpose. I was willing to leave him alone and let him be happy, but _he _chose otherwise. Let's go over the _extensive _list of shit you've done to me. For one thing, the moment you laid eyes on me, you've been nothing but a complete and total bitch to me. For another, you threw chicken on me and then poured buckets of sweet and sour sauce on me. Then, not only did you continue your bitch streak and decide to bitch and hurt my family, AKA Alex, but you told everyone the secret that could kill us all. After that, you beat the hell out of me when I was blind and incapable of fighting back. Then, you started going after Sam too...which is _slightly _understandable, since she beat your ass. But still. Then, after that, you've gone and made my week _hell _this week—or tried to anyways. I can guarantee you. You weren't successful. This has been the _best _week of my life, but not for the reasons you think. So, go ahead. Get revenge. When you do, my revenge comes next, and I can assure you mine will be a _lot _worse."

With a quivering lip, she yanked her arm away and ran across the gym, over to her posse.

Seth wrapped his arms around my waist and put his lips by my ear, his lips, which were turned up in a smile, brushing against it. "That was sexy. I love you. You and I are gonna have an amazing night tonight during the after party—whether we party hard or whether we simply go home. I can't wait to call you Mrs. Ari Moore."

"That sounds amazing," I sighed blissfully, grinning up at him. "I can't wait either. Actually, I need to talk to you about that. Tonight, of course. And other things. You know what? No. Those things can wait until tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"We're hanging out in the tree house, silly," I smiled up at him. "Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" he agreed. "But, wait. You never told me how you convinced your dad to allow it."

I shrugged. "Lots of determination and cute faces."

"That works."

It sorta shocked me how _huge_ the final pep rally was. They called all the football players out of class early, which Coach had told me included me. They brought me into the locker room, which was full of guys changing into their jerseys.

Once everyone was changed, they all looked at me, except Seth. They were looking at me with these creepy, amused, eager gazes, and I simply cringed back into Seth, who seemed to be completely oblivious.

I blinked. "What?"

Seth looked up from his converse after he finished tying them and froze. "Why are they staring at you like that?"

"She's part of the team," Jake reminded us both before laughing huskily. "Meaning, she has to get changed."

My eyes widened, and Seth's eyebrows rose in disbelief. He was giving them a funny look, almost like he might snap and kill them all.

There was a long, eerie silence as the two of us looked at the guys, eagerly waiting on me to take my shirt off. Seth was growing rather irate, and I was just thinking of a way out of this.

"Right," I finally said as I stood up, a smirk on my lips as Seth gaped down at me. I snapped into some more clothes. "Easy."

Seth grinned but didn't say anything. Instead, he kissed the side of my head and went to tying his other converse.

"That's cheating!" Zack exclaimed in a pouty voice.

I smiled sweetly at them all. "Maybe. Guys, I love you all, but I don't love you _that_ much."

"Oh yeah," Garrett agreed as he shut his locker. "That's just Seth, right?"

I laughed before grinning at him. "Exactly."

"Oh!" Coach suddenly exclaimed as he walked out of his office, making us all jump in surprise. "Ari! I forgot." He threw me a jersey with my favorite number on it. Number seventy-four. "That's yours. I just keep forgetting."

I nodded but couldn't help the smile that was spreading brilliantly across my lips. "Alright."

"Five minutes!" he announced before looking back to me and tilting his head towards the bathroom. "There's a stall right there."


	18. 17: Final Pep Rally Part 1

**review for more! :) the song from chapter 16 was _Perfect Day _by Superchick. If you want a movie reference for a movie it was in, it was in either Legally Blonde or Legally Blonde II. i don't remember which one atm. oh! one question. when you review to tell me what you think *hint hint* :), tell me whether or not you think Ari should enter the talent show. (refer back to ch. 3 if you don't remember what talent show.) i wanna know what you think, because i'm not sure. lol**

* * *

Hey, you, follow me  
I'll take the lead  
Can't you see?  
Don't you question me  
You just do what I say

* * *

I wasn't used to being "one of the guys." At home, there was no distinction, other than what clothes to wear and who changes where—things like that. So, now, to be called "one of the guys," I felt strangely odd.

But I didn't care. I liked it.

The football team was being specially announced by grade level and number, after the cheerleaders already had been. First they got in their specific grade groups, and then they lined up in numerical order in those groups.

Coach was the only adult in here. In the background, while he was talking about how amazing the season had gone so far with their help and everything, they had the most annoying country music playing. Sorry to all you country music fans, but I _hate _it. It's all the same to me.

Don't lecture me about how I'm wrong, okay? It's my opinion.

My head was starting to hurt from the annoying noise that Lindsey changed the music to—some kind of classical type deal. The entire gym, minus her posse and some other cheerleaders, seemed really annoyed with it too.

Coach groaned. "Ugh. What is that shit?"

Lindsey giggled. "It's M—"

"I don't care," he interrupted blankly. "Someone, please fix that before I announce the guys."

With a snap, I hooked the speakers up to my iPod, so the song changed to _Smack Down _by **Thousand Foot Krutch**. It was perfect for the situation. I mean, the opening line is, "Get ready for the smack down!"

Coach laughed. "Much better. Alright. Your freshman; number two, James Crocker!"

People cheered, but I knew it could've been _much _louder. After that, I stopped paying attention, because Seth laced our fingers together and tenderly kissed my left hand, using his thumb to fiddle with the ring.

I smiled brightly up at him. "I love you."

I knew he couldn't stop the incandescent smile he gave me back. "I love you too, Ari. So much."

"Good."

"It is," he agreed before very passionately kissing me. After that, I felt myself being slammed against the wall. Once again, Seth seemed to be losing his grasp on how gentle or rough he was on me.

I couldn't help the husky tone my voice had as I pulled away, only to have him eagerly kiss my neck, and whispered in his ear, "You're getting rough, and I _love _it." I was just too horny right now to try and stop it.

His already firm grip around my arms tightened even further, but instead of continuing to kiss my neck, he brought his lips down to mine again.

I had no idea how long we spent making out in our own little corner, away from the eyes of everyone except maybe team members who were possibly watching. But, none of them said anything, not until Garrett, with a smirk on his lips, tapped Seth's shoulder and said, "Come on, lover boy. He's starting with the seniors. You can make out with your fiancée some other time."

My eyes widened in surprise, and Garrett simply laughed as a response. Seth seemed rather chill about it, though, because when I looked up at him, he was simply smiling as the two got back in their line order. Seth was number seventy-seven, so he was last out of all of them. Garrett was seventy-three, so he was in front of Seth. As Coach started announcing the seniors, I realized the song had recently changed to _The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle _by **A Day to Remember**.

Oh my. This song...my favorite line is the one that says, "I'll rip that scandalous bitch in two!" Ha.

"After Garrett, we have someone who is very special to me," Coach called out eagerly. "I've known this boy since he was five, since he first picked up a football. Give a warm round of applause to the team captain, your homecoming king nominee, Seth Moore!"

The loudest applause sounded then, and I couldn't help but laugh a little before cheering myself. Him and Garrett did their secret handshake as he got out there, and they both smirked over at me after that.

Why?

Because I was dumb enough to think that Coach wasn't gonna announce me like he was them.

"I'm sure you all know our team MVP," he continued on, once the laughter had died down. "I used to think that she was simply the life of Seth, who is the life of this team, but to say that now would be lying. I have come to realize that this girl is the life of the team in her own special way, the life of, well, the student body. Wouldn't you all agree?"

Everyone erupted into the loudest screams and yells yet. Of course, the team was cheering, minus Seth, who was too busy laughing at, probably, the expression I had on.

"I haven't known this girl very long, but, man, do I love her," he sighed. "In a different way than Seth, obviously. She's a really special, talented, smart, caring, incredible girl that if you don't know her, you're seriously missing out. If I were you, I would take time out of my day to do so. She's just…wow. I'll stop rambling now, because I know your cheerleaders have some fun stuff for the homecoming nominees to do, so please help me bring out our very own Ari Lawrence!"

I tried to block out the loud cheers, screams, and yells and focus solely on the music, which changed to _Smile _by **Avril Lavigne **the moment he called my name, but it didn't completely work.

Lindsey was _fuming _in the corner the cheerleaders were standing in, but as the cheering died away, her anger slowly faded away.

I laughed as I looked up at Seth. "She's so pissed. I'm sure she's gonna try to find some way to ruin my life now, but you know what? I'm ready for anything she could possibly think to dish out."

"Now, I'm going to turn it over to Lindsey. Homecoming nominees, please come out."

The guys started whooping and cheering while they made their way back to their seats while Alex and Sam came down to the floor to join us. Then, the entire room started cheering too. It was like a chain reaction. If the football players do it, everyone does.

"That looks so stupid," Lindsey said coldly away from the mike, looking at my backwards hat, my jersey, my black and blue converse, and my jeans.

"Well," I said lightly. "I wasn't gonna say it, but yeah. You do."

"I was talking about you," she retorted.

I blinked in surprise and snorted. "Oh. My bad. I just figured as much as you look in the mirror, you must've known how ridiculous you. Oh well. Keep looking. I'm sure you'll see it one day."

Her eyes started blazing as Seth, Sam, and Alex all started laughing. Seth simply squeezed my hand for encouragement while Sam grinned at me and Alex gave me a high five.

"Alright!" Lindsey said eagerly into the mike, finding a way to quickly hide her anger. "Let's get the final events for the final pep rally started, shall we?"

Everyone cheered loudly. I've never been to a school that got this pepped up at pep rallies like this. They got pepped up in all of my old schools, but nothing like this place did.

"Alright," she said before turning to face us. "First, we've previously drawn a name out of a cap. That person is gonna see what it's like to be a cheerleader." She looked at me. "Ari, let's get you changed."

My eyebrows rose in disbelief. Was this her form of payback? Or did she really just so happen to choose me?

Oh well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

"Changed? Are you kidding me?"

"No," she said simply while shaking her head. "I'm not."

I took a deep breath. "Well, it can't be worse than the Seduction Fairy, so, what the heck? Why not?"

She just kept the same smile on her face, except this smile was no longer forced like it was before, as she gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me outside. As we got out to the gym lobby, she laughed darkly. "That's what _you_ think."

I didn't have to ask, because after she said that, they handed me a black halter top bikini with a skimpy black skirt to go with it. Both the top and the skirt had royal blue polka dots on them.

"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath as I snapped it on. With a smirk and a shake of her head, she took the hat off, and her posse put my hair in a high ponytail.

I had to admit; this was a relief to what I had cooked up.

"Now you're about to find out what it's _really_ like to mess with me, freak," she said darkly in an evil, sinister tone before opening the door. "Help me get her out here everybody!"

I poked my head out and shook my head, first looking at the student body and then Seth, who seemed curious. With a nod, Sam stood on her tiptoes and told him exactly why. "Please don't."

She looked in and slightly nodded at the cheerleaders behind me. I turned to see what they were doing, but they shoved me in before I could react or figure it out.

Seth's eyes bulged as the male population went absolutely _crazy_. Minus Alex, of course, who looked beyond pissed. This was _not _how he wanted to see his baby sister dressed in front of the entire student body. Not that what I was forced to wear yesterday was either, but still. As I walked to the center, teeth barred and fists clenched, I glanced over to see some of the guys cheering. For the most part, though, they looked pretty irritated. Especially Garrett.

I walked up to Seth. "She's dead. I don't give a shit anymore. Before the day is over, I will beat the hell out of this bitch."

He grinned before looking at the guys, giving them a slight nod. The ones who weren't cheering now started cheering with excitement, because they seemed to know what that meant. The others, they cheered even louder as I walked up to Lindsey.

I had a smug smile on my lips. "Teach me how to be a cheerleader."

"Someone cocky?" she asked arrogantly before rolling her eyes. "Why don't you just go ahead and do what we do?"

"You don't mean the cheering, do you?" I snorted. "Because my old dog could've done that; he actually did. Quite often."

She rolled her eyes. "No. I mean the gymnastics part of it."

I shrugged. "Alright."

_Carry Out feat. Justin Timerlake_ by **Timbaland** came on as I walked out to the mat they had set up in the floor already. With a grin, I started lightly running to get a head start, and then I did a backhand spring. I did five before landing in a back flip. "What next?"

"Toe tuck into the splits," she said angrily before crossing her arms over her chest in irritation—her chest that was mostly just stuffing. She thinks people don't notice, but I promise that's not the case.

I shrugged and did it with ease, something that _really _pissed her off. "Was that supposed to be hard?"

"No," she lied shakily as she stepped forward towards me. "What's hard to you?"

"I'll show you," I said lightly before running forward. I did a back hand spring, which turned into a spin up in the air, did a back flip, and landed in the splits.

Everyone in the room started cheering, some louder than others.

Cough, cough. Seth. The team. Cough, cough.

"Take my order, cause you're body's like a carry out," I sang as I danced—literally—back over to Alex, Seth, and Sam.

Seth laughed at me. "That was awesome. You definitely showed her up at her own forte."

I shrugged. "That was nothing. The last one, yeah. It was. What she had me doing, though, wasn't."


	19. 18: Final Pep Rally Part 2

**the song from the last chapter was _I Don't Have to try _by Avril Lavgine. :) once again, i wanna know what YOU think as a reader.**

**A) Ari enters the talent show.**

**B) She doesn't.**

**please review and tell me. :) other reviews would be nice too. i'm sorry it's been so long! i actually had this chapter up, but i forgot to post it? i don't actually remember why it wasn't posted. either way, it's here now, and i hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

We live in a cold dark world with venom in its veins  
You can spit it in my face but I know I'll be okay  
It's on the attack, it's a war, it's a game  
A ball and chain, chew my arm off to get away

Don't fight it or deny it, invite it  
'Cause when it feels like a kick in the teeth I can take it  
Throw your stones and you won't see me break it  
Say what you want, take your shots  
You're setting me free with one more kick in the teeth

* * *

Lindsey picked up the mike with that same faked smile again. "Alright. Now, for the next thing, it involves all of the nominees. It's a game we like to call Hide-and-Go-Seek, Homecoming style. Each player will hide, minus the one who's it first, which they're drawing for right now. They're timed. It has to be somewhere in this gym. The person it has to find them, and instead of tagging them, they've got to put them over there in that pool of water; naturally, of course. No cheating, Ari, Alex, or Sam."

"Seth!" someone's called out from the entrance door.

"Alright," Lindsey smiled. "Seth. You're it. Count to twenty. Now...go!"

Sam, Alex, and I all three took off, as fast as we could. I knew this was sketchy. The endless list of possible things Lindsey could do let me worried. So, even though she didn't know this, I was watching her from under the bleachers, where I was hiding.

While Seth's eyes were closed and he was counting out-loud, she kissed his lips quickly before jumping back a few feet.

"Ari," she giggled as I _literally _felt my hands sparking and burst into flames. She was beyond hope. That was it. This girl was dead. "There are better places for that, sweetie."

Did she seriously think he was stupid enough to think it was me? Really?

"Just stop!" Seth exclaimed irately. "Alright? I know that was you Lindsey because the same feeling I always got when it was supposed to be you is still there. Pure _disgust."_

People busted out laughing as some started making the usual, "Oh!" as if to say, "Oh! Burn, bitch!"

Then, he finished counting and smiled. It was as if he knew I was watching from _somewhere._ "Ready or not, here I come."

Lindsey just looked beyond pissed again.

Alex was instantly beside me, a sympathetic look in his eyes, even though his face was twisted in anger. "Hey, little sis. Ready to kick some ass?"

"Well, yes and no, but if I don't do it now, she's bound to do something else to make it worse where there will be no chance of saving her," I ground out through clenched teeth. "Then again, I'm not so sure there will be now either."

He hit his fist against mine. "Alright. Nice."

"Thirty seconds!" Lindsey called out.

Seth ran under the bleachers in that moment, a devious gleam in his eye. "A ha!"

As Alex scrambled up, I just sat there and laughed. Seth's body crashed into mine as he laid himself on top of me. We only had so much time, so he made sure to passionately kiss me for a few seconds. I knew there would be much more of this later. It was also as if he was making up for what Lindsey did.

Then, with a smirk, he wrapped his arms tightly around my body and pulled me into his arms, bridal style.

Of course, I was letting him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to. My hair bow caught under the bleachers, causing my hair to go down in its straight manner. The team was cheering him on loudly, and so was the rest of the school, including Lindsey. As we neared the pool, I really did start trying.

But it was too late. He already had me in there.

It was _freezing_ in there! The water was so deep that it covered me when I was sitting down. Not only was it cold, but it had ice in there too, therefore making it way colder than it needed to be!

I stood up from the water with wide eyes. My body was slightly trembling, but no one could really see that, except _maybe _Seth. People started loudly cheering as Sam and Alex both emerged from their hiding spots with cocky smirks.

Seth simply laughed as he helped me out. "I win."

"I let you win," I said simply. "Well, most of the way, at least."

"But I still threw you in there by myself."

"True," I agreed with a proud smile. Zack threw me a towel from where he was standing, as a person who's there to make sure everything goes as planned. "Thanks." I dried my hair. "That stupid little bitch is about to regret messing with me."

"You can do it," Seth said gently, giving me an encouraging smile. "I promise to stop you before you kill her."

After my hair was done dripping, I put the towel beside the water and messed with it a little so it would look good.

"Alright," Lindsey said smugly. "Would all of our nominees please come to the center for one last round?"

They had just set up a mat, for whatever reason, with a lot of towels around the center of the mat, but I didn't get why.

Oh well.

Lindsey was brightly smiling. "Okay. We're gonna have one more round of that. This time, obviously, Ari, you're it. Ready, set, go!"

I closed my eyes and started counting to twenty, making sure to have them tightly squeezed shut so I wouldn't be cheating. _One, two, three, f—_

Something cold poured over my head, stopping me in mid count. It smelled like vanilla, and it was partially solid, partially liquid. This unidentified object was something that could quickly be identified, even if I'm not a rocket scientist.

Vanilla ice cream.

I gasped and jumped back, only to find myself falling down, due to my lack of balance and the slippery floor underneath me. Even with the towels, I still fell. "What the hell, Lindsey?"

Falling didn't help my case at _all._ Instead of ice cream, chocolate syrup got poured on my head, which was immediately followed by a bucket of sprinkles being poured on top of me.

As I stood back up, I felt the bikini being untied around the neck and under my chest at the same time before it was ripped off.

The team was now standing up screaming different protest at Lindsey, and the girls in the school was booing loudly. The boys were wolf-whistling and cheering, but that quickly died away into silence.

I had never seen Seth move as fast as he had to hold me and stop any more eyes from seeing something only _he _should've seen. I could feel his body shaking with rage and frustration.

I snapped on a shirt, but he still refused to let me go for a moment.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and despite the cold substance on me, I was _hot_, fuming with anger. I wasn't upset; no, no feelings were hurt—of mine anyways. I was_pissed._

For one thing, she really dumped all this shit on me. For another, she _really _took my top off in front of the entire fucking student body. For yet another, she hurt_ Seth_ by doing so.

You don't hurt Seth.

"It's just a little homecoming joke," she said innocently as she turned back to the football team. "Chill out, guys."

"Ari!" Alex exclaimed loudly before running over here, at full speed, to hold me back. Sam had to help him, because I _was_ stronger than him. "Relax! Breathe!_"_

I was shaking though. It was too hard to relax this time. It was just too hard, and I had no intentions, no desire, to do so. Sam and Alex had to come grab me to hold me back so I didn't march right up to her and beat the hell out of her.

No one was there to hold back Seth, though. In an instant, he was in Lindsey's face, and he reared back and punched her, hard. Everyone in the room started freaking out, some cheering and some just shocked. No one really seemed to feel for Lindsey, though. There was no protesting, "Dude! You just hit a girl!" Everyone knew better.

Seeing that…Seth punching her for me, going against another one of the very things he was brought up against for me...it relaxed me enough that I could walk up to her and seriously not punch her in the face.

No matter how much I wanted to.

We had all heard her nose snap. I wouldn't have been surprised if people in the crowd did too. But, I couldn't help but laugh as I skipped up to her and hugged Seth. It wasn't enough to relax him, though, so I simply looked over to Alex, who nodded and calmed him down himself. Even that, though, didn't work completely. The dark look of pure hatred never left his eyes.

I turned to Lindsey and closed the gap between us within a blink of her eye. "If a war is what you want, then a war you'll get. I'm done being nice. I'm done just taking all this. You have brought out a side of me Alex has only seen _once_, and that was when someone took away my dad. You have just brought out a side of me you are going to highly regret. I don't care what you do to me, unless what you do to me hurts my family, or even worse. Seth. You have just made your biggest mistake ever. I am about to make your life a living hell." I snapped. "There."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Absolutely nothing has changed. You're just a freak who needs to be put in an insane asylum."

"Nothing has changed," I agreed brightly, giving her an innocently devious smile. "Yet. Phase one."

"What did you just do to me?" she asked through trembling lips and chattering teeth as she reflexively took a step back.

I shrugged. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Freak," she said again before crossing her arms. She held her chin up high before turning and walking over to the cheerleaders, some of which were yelling at her.

I shivered before warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. The bell to go home rang, and Seth kissed my shoulder as he pulled me close against him.

"I'm so sorry, Ari."

I turned and pressed my lips softly against his. "It's not your fault. I should be saying sorry to you."

He shook his head but looked down at his feet anyways. "Don't worry about it, Ari. It is in no way your fault."

"That doesn't mean I can't be sorry about it," I reminded him. "Look at me." When he didn't, I grabbed his chin softly and made him. "Seth, I love you. We're gonna get married one day, and we'll both graduate high school eventually. Nothing will come between us. You and I...we're gonna go somewhere, just the two of us, and we're gonna be happier than we've ever been. It'll just be you, me, and the beautiful world around us. Nothing else."

This idea seemed to please him, because he looked up at me with a grin and bright, glowing eyes.

"Really?"

"Really," I vowed.

Alex and Sam walked over from the place they had been holding me back right about then, after calming each other down. Alex had to calm down Sam so she didn't do something stupid, and she had to calm him down.

Sam was the first to speak. "What did you just do? She's freaked."

I chuckled darkly. "You'll see."


	20. 19: Homecoming's Sweet End

**okay. this chapter is not very long, and i apologize once again for the delay. until July 1st, i WILL be working on NOTHING but this until i can't think on what else to write. i SWEAR. i know i'm probably not the one to listen to, and i'm so sorry. i just haven't had the motivation to work on this, and i didn't look at my reviews. otherwise, i would have. point is, i'm so very sorry. but, July 1st - 14th, i won't be posting anything. sorry, but my boyfriend, who is in the Navy, is gonna be home, and i haven't seen him since February. so, i will be seeing him. well, there will be days he's not with me and with family, so i might get to post then. otherwise, sorry.**

**i will, however, continue until he gets here. no reviews NECESSARY, but they would still be greatly appreciated and loved. :) they seriously helped me move on. thank you to all of you who did. i love you guys. :D**

**the song from chapter 18 was _Kick In the Teeth _by Papa Roach. awesome song, to put it lightly. :)**

**without further ado, the long awaited chapter 19!**

* * *

On My Mind: Cody Simpson

It's practically the entire song, so if you want, look up the lyrics. If you're not a Cody Simpson fan (if never heard of him, he's a LOT like Justin Bieber) i wouldn't recommend listening to it. I heard it from my little sister and thought the lyrics fit this entire story, really. So, yes. There's that.

* * *

I can bore you with the details of the super easy game if you really want me to. But, I won't, because it was homecoming. You pick an easy team for homecoming, someone you know you'll beat so that you won't have to worry about losing homecoming.

That happened at the last school we went to, and let me just say that it wasn't pretty.

Anyways, the homecoming ceremony was really interesting. Seth, who was all sweaty from playing, was my escort, and Alex proudly escorted Sam. It was super cute, and I adored that.

Seeing Lindsey's seething anger as she watched Seth and I walk out there together, with her broken nose, was amazing. It wasn't enough, though. Now, all I could do was wait for the beautiful thing I did to begin my revenge to happen.

Seeing that would make my day.

My dress I was wearing for homecoming was gorgeous, in my opinion. It was red silk with a black mesh layer over every part, except the red silk ribbon that went around the waist and tied in the back. It had spaghetti straps, and it had a poufy skirt that came a couple inches above my knees.

And, of course, I wore red ankle converse.

Nudge had left my hair curly, but she had put half of it up in a clip to make it look more elegant.

"Your homecoming king is...Seth Moore!" Principal Williams exclaimed eagerly, starting the applause Seth got as he released my arm and reluctantly walked forward to accept his crown.

Sam was smirking at me as my eyes grew wide. This was all wrong! They were supposed to win!

Although it would be nice to rub in Lindsey's face...

Wait. Sam could still win. There were no homecoming king and queen pairs, not officially.

"...queen is, Aria Lawrence!" was all I heard said. From there, I felt like fainting but didn't, because the faster I got my crown, the faster I could be by Seth.

This hair clip? Five dollars. This dress? Fifty dollars, on sale. The look on Lindsey's face now? Priceless.

I'd say it was an awesome time.

* * *

Wow, what an after party.

To say it was a wild night is putting it lightly. There was drinking, all over, but not Seth and me. He was actually sitting by me on the couch with Garrett and Kelsi, who were now wildly making out after she agreed to go out with him.

Like I knew would happen, he asked her out tonight, and that was another glorious thing.

But, as much as I loved being here around all these people, I wanted desperately to talk to Seth. First, though, I had to decide what _I _wanted, which was rather challenging. I wanted nothing more than to marry Seth, but in England? Have this huge elaborate event like that?

It would be everywhere, and I knew Seth didn't want that. How hard would it be for people to figure out his secret?

At the same time, though, a part of me was excited about just the idea. How amazing would it be to be married and become the princess of England like that? I would literally have my Cinderella moment, besides just the ball.

If nothing else, I _had _to convince him to go to that. How long had it been since he had seen his grandfather? I knew he wouldn't leave me behind, but he wouldn't bring me either?

That couldn't happen. If was gonna meet my family, I was gonna meet his too.

Maybe a compromise.

Thanksgiving break, Grandma Val and Grandpa Jacob would _love _to have us, Seth included. I hadn't seen her in so long, and he could finally say he knew all of my family, because for Thanksgiving, they're _all _there.

And I'm sure his parents wouldn't mind, as long as my parents were there to make sure we were good.

We would have to talk.

Seth rolled his eyes as he looked down at me. "Did you predict this too?"

I snorted as I instantly snapped out of my thoughts and smirked up at him. "A long time ago, practically since I first met them."

"You okay?" he asked curiously, eyebrows furrowing a little. "You seem a little...not here? What's on your mind, love?"

"Lots," I smiled. "But, don't worry about it, Seth. We'll talk tomorrow a lot more. Right now, just have fun, okay?"

"Fun," he snorted. "Sorry, Ari, but as much fun as this night has been, I don't know if that'll work out too well for me. How 'bout we just head on home? We can talk then, maybe in the tree house?"

I smiled. "Okay, if you really want..."

And we were up and heading out the door, with nothing but a mumbled goodbye to Kelsi and Garrett over our shoulders.

I'm not so sure they heard us, but that seemed to be the least of Seth's worries. Right now, he wanted to see what was on my mind, and he wanted to be alone with me.

The tree house always means good and wonderful things.

We also had to tell Sam and Alex we were heading home, but instead of tracking them down, I just texted them both.

It makes life so much easier.


	21. 20: Bottled Up

**:) here's chapter 20. probably won't go how you expect, but hey. maybe i'm wrong.**

* * *

We were so different  
But opposites attract  
So my hope kept growing  
And I never looked back  
You're one of a kind  
No one can change this heart of mine, oh...

...The things you say  
You make me fall harder each day  
You're a trainwreck  
But I wouldn't love you  
If you changed, oh yeah

One more thing I thought I'd share  
With someone special  
I am falling like I never fell before...

...And look how far we've come  
You're a trainwreck  
But with you, I'm in love

* * *

Of course, every time we go into the tree house, intimate moments are shared, and we get close to just making the sweetest most amazing love imaginable. But, thankfully, one of us is always capable of stopping it, and tonight it was Seth.

"Good boy," I smiled as I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Sorry about everything that happened today. I, uh, I would've dealt with the Lindsey issue a long time ago if I had known what she was gonna do."

"It's not your fault, Ari," he assured me, giving me a small smile as he looked over at me. "I'm just sorry that it had to happen like it did. I don't blame you. Is that what has been bothering you?"

"Nothing's really been _bothering _me, per say," I murmured. "Well, one thing is, but that's not it. Actually, that has absolutely nothing to do with it. I just wanted to go ahead and get that out there. Actually, Seth, what I wanted to ask you was...well, okay. I'll have to make sure it's okay with my parents, which I know it will be, but we always go to Arizona for Thanksgiving with my grandmother. She usually comes here for Christmas with her husband and all. My point is, do you wanna come and meet the rest of my family? I mean, you will one day anyways. Why not now?"

That bright adorable smile spread across his lips. "Is that all, baby girl? Wow. I would much rather be with you than let you go off across the country. That's really it? Of course I would love to go. My parents will probably say it's okay, since they're letting me make my own decisions now—especially tomorrow."

I smirked at him. "Oh what fun tomorrow will be."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "What have you done?"

"Nothing of consequence," I giggled. "But, no, Seth. That's, uh, actually not all. There's a couple more things we need to talk about. Um, I talked to Jessie this morning, as you know. First, before I tell you my thoughts, I wanna know something. Why don't you want me to meet your family in England?"

That _completely _took him by surprise. He knew I had talked to Jessie, but I'm pretty sure he figured it was just about the birthday present thing. No, he didn't know _what _I had gotten him, but he knew I had gotten him something. So, that part, he knew.

The rest of what we talked about, he didn't know anything about.

Which is why he seemed so surprised.

Actually, he seemed pretty pissed too. I'm not sure if he was mad at me, or Jessie—or both, really.

"Ari, we're not talking about this," he said firmly.

"Look, Seth, I understand why a wedding in England would be a bad idea, but why can't I meet them?" I insisted. "From how Jessie talks, your grandfather seems like a nice person. He seems to adore you, Seth. Why not go to the eighteenth birthday ball he's throwing? At the very least, leave me here and go."

"Ari, I'm not going halfway across the world from you for even a minute!" he exclaimed. "I can't. You should understand that!"

"I do," I said honestly. "Look, Seth, there's gonna be a time when your family isn't here anymore. You need to see them as much as possible. We're gonna live forever, but they won't. It's hard to face, I know. I really won't understand your pain, because most of my closest family _is _living forever. But you _have _to go see him. I don't care if it means with me or without me. There's no time to waste."

"I'm not going with you, and I'm sure as hell not going without you!" he snapped. "Look, Ari, drop it, okay?"

"No!" I yelled back in his face. This was the first time I believe I've ever been mad at him before, _ever_. Seth was really pissing me off. Why wouldn't he talk about it? We had to, so there was no getting out of it. What was he so defensive about? "Seth, you know damn well this is something we have to talk about."

"No we don't!" he shouted venomously. "Ari, _drop it_. Seriously. I don't want to go back there, and I'm not! None of you can make me!"

"Seth, there are people there who love you and who care about you!" I reminded him angrily. "Don't leave them behind! I don't know what it is that keeps you away, or why! I just don't know, but if you really think I'm just gonna drop this, you really don't know me."

"Don't. Say. That," he ground out through his tightly clenched teeth. "Aria Samantha Lawrence, I know you better than _anyone _does!"

"I know that, Seth," I said firmly. "Which is why I know you know I'm not dropping this. Talk to me! I don't care what happens. Just tell me why and I'll understand!"

"You won't understand, Ari!" he exclaimed in an agitated, somewhat sad tone. I didn't understand _why_, but he was suddenly shaking. It was out of rage and sorrow, but what was so bad that he didn't want to go back to? "I'm not going back! You can't make me!"

I felt a tear trickle down my cheek, something that surprised us both, I think. "Maybe I won't understand, Seth, and I'm not by any means saying you have to go back. I just want to know _why _you won't."

"It's none of your damn business!" he screamed in my face, which caused my heart to stop in my chest. It was shocking when he turned and headed towards the door, which was now able to be opened by him, and headed out, probably towards the house.

I couldn't do anything but stand here in complete shock, eyes wide and body trembling.

Shock is a powerful thing. It's a simple emotion, yet it can somehow manage to hut your body down, freeze you in place, and send your normal body functions into crazy fits; _bad _crazy fits, although they can be good.

When my leg started twitching, or my body became rigid as a rock, it was definitely a bad thing considering my fiancé was possibly heading home away from me.

Even as tears poured down my cheeks faster than they had in a while, silently, I ran out, making sure to lock the door behind me. It surprised me a little to see him leaned up against a distant tree, trying to regain his composure.

"Don't you dare tell me it's none of my damn business," I said darkly as I stepped closer to him, eyes tightening as he glared up at me.

"That came out wrong, but we're not talking about it right now," he hissed before turning and heading inside.

"Stop!" I shrieked, but he just ignored me. "Damn it, Seth, if you don't tell me what you're so scared of, I'll just ask Jessie!"

"She doesn't know, so good luck with that!" he screamed back at me. "Ari, just don't worry about it, okay? I'm not _scared _of anything! Just do me a favor and forget Jessie said anything, okay?"

"We will talk about this tomorrow," I informed him in a cold, completely serious voice. "If I have to strap you down to a chair and _make _you talk, we will. You know what? Here's an even better idea! I can just scan through your memories and see for myself!"

"NO!" he exclaimed in a pleading voice, eyes wide in fear and absolute horror. "Okay, Ari, I'm scared, alright? No. None of my _household _family knows why, and I _will _tell you. Just give me time, and we'll talk tomorrow, okay? Let me calm down a little, and then we can talk. Right now, I can't. And I'm sorry."

Without another word, he headed towards the house, going through the basement to head upstairs. I followed him, but I went a different way in. Everyone was staring wide-eyed at us as we angrily went into our bedrooms, slamming our doors behind ourselves.

He probably kicked his bed, or did something along those lines to release some anger. Right now, honestly, a part of me wanted to have some serious hate sex, but at the same time, I felt like a _terrible _person for wanting that.

Something about his past life was _killing _him, and he had never talked about it. All these years in America, he had repressed those dark memories, and he seemed to have forgotten about them.

But now, they were resurfacing, and he was scared again. Maybe he was scared I would be upset, or maybe he was just scared I would leave him, maybe?

It was silly, but I honestly didn't mark that idea out. Whatever it was, Seth not only blamed himself for it, but he hated himself for it.

And I was gonna find out tomorrow. It worried me, probably more than he wanted it too. When my family tried to get in, I simply locked the door and told them not to worry about anything.

We were fine. I mean, every couple fights. It happens. Sure, it was our first serious fight like this where we were both seriously pissed at one another, but it wasn't the end of us.

Not by a long shot. He's gonna have to do more than yell at me to get me to go away. Actually, no, that's stupid. Nothing he could do would get rid of me now. Well, especially now. Even before, he was stuck with me. He just didn't know it.

Now, he does, and that force holding us together was literally unbreakable.

He was mine, forever. So he's got a dark, terrifying secret that's torn him up inside? I would help him in any way I could.

Well, there goes the England idea. Now, I just had to know _why_ it was gone.

Maybe we can still get married over Christmas break. I don't know. We'll see.


	22. 21: Eighteen

**sorry if that was a shocker. i know you're not supposed to go to bed mad at someone, but they really weren't mad at each other, necessarily, so much as they were mad at themselves.**

**anyways, here's the next chapter. :) obviously it's not all happiness and lovey dovey stuff, but they don't hurt. :D**

**oh. the song from chapter 20 was _Trainwreck _by Demi Lovato. :) i like her, and her music. just throwin' that out there. lol**

* * *

Rock-a-bye my baby  
Don't be blue tonight  
Oh I'm on my way  
And I'm gonna make it right

Cause I've got the feeling  
You'll be needing love  
And of all the lonely hearts  
You're the one I'm thinking of

I've been told it's gonna take an iron hand  
To break the mold and stand above all of the rest

Lately you make me weaker in the knees  
And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me  
Take me away to places I ain't seen  
They say you've got a hold on me  
And I won't disagree

* * *

It was slightly awkward the next morning when we came out of our rooms at the same time...at three in the morning. Seth was still in just his boxers, because he probably just going to get a snack, a drink, or something like that, but when I came out, he gave me a small, apologetic smile.

"Hey, you."

"Hey," I whispered, looking down to the ground with my lips quirked to the side.

"I am an ass," he sighed. "I'll say I'm sorry a trillion times, and it still won't make up for what I did last night. But, I really am sorry, Ari. I _never _should've yelled at you like that. I just...lost it. When I saw you crying, I wasn't mad at you anymore, but me. I just kept losing it, and I'm so sorry, beyond what words can explain to you."

"Seth, don't worry about it," I said with a shrug before giving him a loving smile. "People fight. That's actually a sign that they're really in love, because they love each other and are comfortable enough around each other _to _fight. It's actually quite healthy."

"Maybe," he said gently before shaking his head. "But not like last night. That was out of control, and I'm sorry. The only thing that could've made that worse was if I _really _lost it and hit you..."

"But you didn't," I reminded him softly as his voice drifted off. "So seriously don't worry about _that_. Come on. I'll make you breakfast, and we'll talk some more?"

"Okay," he agreed. Before I could move, though, he pulled me into a loving hug—a warm embrace. "I'm sorry, Ari. You deserve to know everything, and I know I told you that you knew everything about me, but you don't; not quite. If it helps, only one other person on this planet knows, so it's not like it's a family secret or anything. I just haven't been able to come to terms with it."

I shrugged. "Seth, baby, don't worry about it. Honestly. I know I don't understand your pain, but I understand that you couldn't tell me yet. Go on in there. I have to get something really quickly."

He nodded and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. Then, he left and headed into the bathroom, where I had time to run back into my room, check the mirror to make sure I looked good—messing with my hair so that the curls were nice and sexy with volume, but not too much—in my black lacy camisole and light blue short female boxer shorts, and grabbed his present, which was all wrapped up in glittery electric blue wrapping paper with a black silk bow tied on in.

In the long narrow box the necklace came in, I might add.

When I got into the kitchen, I made sure to hide the present as I began to make his favorite breakfast—waffles with bacon, and a Reese's candy blast frappe. Back in Alabama, I tried one, and I learned how to make them, so I made one for Seth one day. He fell in love instantly with the first sip.

When he came back in here, he had actually showered and put on a pair of sweat pants. No shirt, thankfully, but there was one in his hand as he came into the kitchen, eyeing the scene with a suspicious gaze.

I smiled at him. "Hey there gorgeous. I'm almost done, so you can just sit down. It'll be in there in a minute."

"Ari, why are you doing this?" he sighed. "I was a complete ass last night, and you're making me my favorite breakfast _ever_? Why?"

"Seth, seriously," I insisted, giving him a bright smile to help ease his spirits. "Don't worry about last night. I'm doing this because I love you, so get used to it. Stop beating yourself up, okay? Don't make me hurt you."

He sighed again. "I wish you would."

"Seth," I said sternly. "Stop it."

"Fine," he muttered. "But, I'm still pissed at myself."

I frowned deeply at him. "Don't be."

"Still will be."

"I know," I mumbled under my breath before taking the last waffle out of our waffle maker, putting it on the plate of waffles, and taking it over to the table where he was sitting glumly.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and began kissing his jaw, all the way up to where my lips were by his ear. "Happy eighteenth birthday, baby."

Before he could say anything, I was kissing him with the desire that was burning inside of me last night. Something else occurred to me after I let all my anger out by punching the solid steel plate in my closet—put there for that exact reason—was that Seth had finally grown a pair.

I mean, don't get me wrong. He's been a man from day one, but he was too willing to do what I wanted. He was finally starting to also do what _he _wanted, and that really...turned me on.

Call me a terrible person if you want, but I found it sexy.

And last night, after I thought about the mixed feelings I had felt during the argument, I realized just how much it had turned me on.

Then, just like that, we shared a kiss that melted every argument away, in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until the chair slid out from under us that I realized I was in his lap straddling him. When it hit the ground, we were quick to separate and sit it back upright. Seth was rubbing his head from hitting the ground, but we were laughing blissfully.

I knew I could make him stop being mad at himself, at least around me.

Sam was the first one in here, followed by Alex and then Daddy. Momma was probably still asleep, knowing her.

"Sorry guys," I whispered apologetically before giving them a sweet, innocent smile. "I fell out of my chair and knocked it over. Go on back to sleep."

"What in the hell are you two doing up?" Sam hissed. "It's, what, four in the morning?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "We both just woke up, not really for any reason."

"Well, I'm going back to bed," Alex mumbled sleepily, and Daddy, with his droopy eyes, just nodded and followed him back towards the bedrooms.

Sam was about to do the same, but first, she had to smirk at us. "Nice one. Oh, by the way. Happy birthday, Seth."

He gave her a nervous smile, realizing she had heard every thought we were currently thinking, and she knew just how horny we were both were right now. "Thanks."

"Oh, come on," she snorted. "At least this fantasy you're having right now isn't as bad as the one you had when the Seduction Fairy came to school."

His eyes narrowed, but then he rolled them. "Okay, Sam. Good night."

She smiled sweetly up at him. "Night, Seth. You know you love me too."

"I do, now go," he said firmly before giving her a gentle shove back towards the bedrooms and taking a deep breath.

"You'll have to show me those later," I murmured distantly, smirking in the direction of Sam.

"Show you?" he asked slowly, eyebrows raising in question.

"Later," I reminded him. "As in after we get married."

He nodded but frowned. "This is really getting hard, Ari."

"I know," I sighed. "It is. But, we'll make it. Actually, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. First, though, you know what there is to talk about."

His lips quirked to the side as we sat down. "After we eat. Promise. First, happy thoughts. I love you."

I smiled up at him before giving him a quick kiss. "I love you, too. Happy birthday, once again."

"Thanks," he sighed. "Just making sure. No presents, right?"

I smirked at him, pushing myself up from the table and heading back into the kitchen to get the plate of bacon and the Reese's candy blast frappe. When I placed them on the table, I was quick to hide the present—faster than he could see.

"You are amazing," he whispered before taking the first sip and closing his eyes to savor every flavor. "Oh my."

I then slid the present across the table, which gently tapped his drink. He had his eyes closed until he felt the vibrations of it, and he opened them to see what had caused it.

When he saw it, he was frozen in place for the longest time. Really, it was probably only a few seconds, but I was a little nervous about how he would react to this, so him freezing like that didn't help me very much.

"Say something," I pleaded. "Seth, I promise. It's not a big deal. It wasn't that much, really. Just open it."

"Ari, I said no presents," he said quietly, looking up to me. "Please?"

"No," I said firmly. "I've already burnt the one receipt there was, and I literally threw the ashes into the wind so you wouldn't demand I put it back together. Now, Seth, before you say anything else, open it."

He was skeptical, very much so, but he opened it anyways. When he saw the black velvet box, he was a little confused. I'm sure he figured out the general idea of what it was, but until he opened it, he really had no idea.

And when he saw it, he was speechless. He had no idea what my parents had in store for him today, or the rest of my family—his too—but this…l could tell by the glowing look in his eyes exactly what he was feeling.

He absolutely adored it.

Slowly, he picked the cross and began studying everything about it. Yesterday after we had parted for the first time in a very long time, I had to hurry to the jewelry store to fix something. I had told Jessie clear diamonds, and that's what it was. But I had decided diamonds to match the color of my eyes were even better. So, that's what I got. It cost a _lot _more than it would have, not only because blue topaz diamonds are more expensive than just the clear ones, but it had to be done in two hours. So, it cost me a little more.

Big deal. He doesn't need to know that.

He seemed to love that touch, which made all the trouble I went through yesterday to put it there worth it.

"Ari, I..." but even still, he couldn't even whisper out what he was trying to say. He was suddenly hugging me, though, ever so tightly. "This is amazing. For the first time in my life, I don't care how much it cost. I mean, if it was over a hundred, I will have Sam smack you, but point is, thank you. I really do love this."

I couldn't help it as I let out a soft squeal of delight. "Awesome. And, Seth, seriously. Don't worry about the price. I'm so glad you love it."

"I didn't think anyone could ever find something that I would actually want," he said quietly, eyes still on the necklace as he ran his fingers over the diamonds. "But you _would _be the one to prove me wrong."

And, in an instant, we were kissing again, this time in a romantic, loving way—not really much desire in there at all.

Obviously it'll always be there, because we'll always long for each other. But, this wasn't about that. This was just something we shared as a way to show how much we loved one another where words couldn't express it.

It was the perfect morning.


	23. 22: Closer Together

**...this...no. i'll let you read. anyways, the song from the last chapter was _I Won't Disagree _by Kate Voegele. i love that song. :) it makes me think of my boyfriend, and that makes me extremely happy. and happy is good, so songs that make me happy are good too. :) plus it's an amazing song.**

**okay. please R&R. i know you don't have to, because there'll still be more chapters, but please do anyways. reviews also make me very happy, and a very happy me writes more and usually better. just sayin'. :D**

* * *

I'm not ashamed, I'm not afraid  
I'm not okay, welcome to the masquerade  
Welcome to the masquerade

We've got the power, who's got the action?  
Break it down 'til there's nothing but a mere fraction  
Out of the fire, rise from the ashes  
Reject your doubt and release the passion

Let's get on it, believe if you want it  
Step into the realm where the real ones flaunt it  
Come back, rewind, another time on it  
Reach out, take that but now step on it

* * *

Seth held tightly onto that necklace as he began to take a deep breath, preparing himself to tell me everything he was hiding. We had relocated to the barn, onto the four-wheelers. As soon as he told me and we were done talking, we were gonna go for a ride. It was probably best, for the both of us, from the way he seemed.

"You can't tell anyone this, Ari, but I don't think I have to tell you that for you to already know," he began carefully, uneasily. "I really don't think there's any way to sugar coat this, so I'm just gonna be blunt. When we lived in England, back in the castle, my grandmother molested me. My grandfather was much older than her, so he couldn't 'please her' like she wanted. So, instead of, you know, having an affair with a guy her age, she decides to get off by touching her grandson and making him watch her pleasure herself."

I had no words. How do you react when your entire world tells you something like that? I mean, nothing I could've said would make that go away.

"It started when I first hit puberty," he said honestly. "I hit it pretty early, about eleven? Yeah. Something like that. I mean, it wasn't long. Just a few years until the summer before I started high school. I never went back. Grandfather walked in on her the last time, and at first, he thought I was a part of the sick things that went on in there. There was no way for her to force me to have sex with her. I mean, seriously? A guy has to want it for it to happen, so it never did. But, she, um, did some pretty weird things. I couldn't stop her either, because she was my _grandmother_. Who would believe me over her? And why ruin the family name like that? She locked me in my room, with a key, of course, and she would tie me up. I couldn't defend myself, no matter how badly I wanted to.

"The time she forgot to lock the door, Grandfather heard me crying," he continued in a low, pained voice. "He, um, walked in and was _furious_. He started yelling at us, telling us we were disowned. All kinds of sad things. My parents and sister, thankfully, were out shopping, so no one heard. Not even the servants. She was so upset, and she started saying _I _made her do that stuff. When he looked at me, though, and saw how messed up I was—thinking about how strangely I had been acting when I turned eleven—he knew she was the one lying, and he told her if she got near me again, she would be executed for child molestation."

"Why didn't he kick her out?" I managed to whisper out as tears began spilling down my cheeks, harder than they ever had before. Actually, I was shuddering so that I wouldn't make a sound. It seemed to be the last thing Seth needed.

He looked up at me quickly with wide eyes. "No, Ari, please don't. It's the past, okay? Don't worry about it. I'm fine now, just a little disturbed. I love you, though, and nothing will change that. Do you still feel the same way about me?"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed quickly, appaled that he believed differently. "Seth, you are my everything! Nothing can change that. Why would your disgusting grandmother change that? I love you. No matter what has happened to you or what you do, that's how it'll be. Forever."

A tear trickled down his cheek as he smiled up at me, placing his hand on my cheek while his eyes began staring deeply into mine. "Until the last rose dies."

And as we shared this moment, we were both crying more than just tears. Actually, he began sobbing into my shoulder, and that did it for me. It was a tender, amazing moment.

No matter how much I hated his grandmother and wanted to _kill _her, this moment bonded us even closer than I realized we could get. Just when I thought we couldn't get any closer, couldn't love each other anymore, he goes and proves me wrong.

"To answer your question," he finally said, after a good, at least, twenty minutes of crying and letting it all out—everything—with a gentle smile. "He couldn't kick her out, because questions would be asked, and he knew I didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't soil the royal name like that, no matter how badly he wanted to expose her filth. He pretended to love her just the same, around everyone but me. When it was just the three of us, he _despised _her, and showed it. When we moved out shortly after that, upon request of my grandfather to give me a more normal life in America, we moved here. Lindsey was the first person to talk to me, and it was the reason I agreed to date her to begin with. She didn't seem so bad until I got to know her better, and then, I realized she was what I deserved. I didn't deserve to be with anyone better, especially not someone like you, Ari. I deserve nothing better than Lindsey. But, I'm glad you stepped down to my level and decided to love me."

"Seth, don't ever say that," I choked out in a pained tone. "We both deserve each other. The end. I used to think I didn't deserve you, but I quickly came to realize, a long time ago, that we're meant to be, and we both deserve this happiness and love we share. We both deserve each other."

He half-heartedly smiled as he placed my hand on his cheek, eyes closing as he absorbed the warmness and the feelings my touch gave him. "After a couple of years, we received word that she had passed away. Grandfather didn't tell us until after the funeral, and Mom went to go see him, along with Jessie, but I stayed behind with Dad. No one ever really understood why, but I had my reasons. Grandfather knew."

"Good thing the bitch is dead," I muttered. "Or I would probably make it that way very soon."

"Ari, don't do anything stupid," he said firmly. "If she was still alive, you would be facing death charges. Killing the queen of England? Really?"

"They couldn't kill me," I said happily. "Remember?"

He rolled his eyes but smiled. "Thanks, Ari. Just the fact that you would makes me happy. I'm glad I told you this. Grandfather may know about it, but I've never talked about it to anyone. It's the reason I was so against sex before marriage, besides the fact that my parents preached against it. I felt so terrible, and I knew I should only be with one person in that way. So, I refused."

"And then I came along and changed your mind," I teased before leaning over and kissing him. "Okay, Seth. You've done good. I'm glad you told me. Talking about it...did it help?"

"More than I can describe," he sighed. "I'm finally able to let it go and move on. I mean, worse things can obviously happen, but it was a rough time."

"Stop talking like that," I insisted. "Seth, when something bad happens, don't dismiss it as no big deal by saying, 'Worse things can obviously happen.' Well duh they can. Shit happened. Bad shit. Leave it at that."

"Don't feel sorry for me," he pleaded. "That's not why I told you."

"I know," I said honestly. "And I don't, because you're more than happy now."

"Because of you," he responded sincerely, kissing my hand still on his face gently before releasing it. "Thank you, Ari. This talk has been amazing."

"Seth, I know I don't understand how weird it'll be to see your grandfather, but I really think you need to," I said nervously, unsure if it was quite time to move on. But, I went for it anyways. "He obviously wants to see you, Seth. He loves you. Go to that ball. I'll even wear a floor length dress if I have to."

His eyebrows rose as he began pondering this idea, looking at me with a calculating expression. I knew, when that smile began to spread slowly across his lips, that he was seriously about to do this. He was about to say yes!

"Okay," he finally said, after delaying the response for thought. "On one condition."

"Anything!" I squealed before reaching over to tightly hug him. "Thank you, Seth. This will make me feel so much better in the long run."

He kissed the top of my head, wrapping his arms around me to complete the embrace. "Marry me. In England."

I was beyond surprised, so much so that my entire body went limp and I fell to the ground. Actually, I hit my head on the four-wheeler. It hurt, pretty bad, but the time it made me go blind was _way _worse.

"Whoa, Ari!" he exclaimed quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I breathed blissfully, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Seth, are you serious?"

"Completely," he said honestly. "I mean, why wait?"

"Seth, you realize if we get married in England like that, it'll be this huge event, and everyone will find out your secret," I pointed out. "You're aware of this?"

"Well, I didn't think about that, no," he admitted slowly. "But, I don't even care anymore. You know, and you don't judge me for it. At that point, I'll only have one more semester. It won't matter. Everyone I care about knows, and they don't care. So, I don't care. I know who my real friends are, and that's all that matters. So they know. Fuck yes! Makes my life easier. No more secrets. Hell; I might even throw a party at my house."

I let out a breathless laugh before standing up. This action made me dizzy, to the point I had to sit back down because I couldn't really see much besides the blur of the room spinning around me. "Okay. Let's get started planning!"

"Um...first, I think we need to get your bleeding head fixed," he disagreed, lips pursing together. "Then we'll move to the planning."

"Oh," I murmured, moving my hand off the spot I had hit to see a bunch of red, warm liquid covering my hand. "Right. That's probably a good idea."

He attempted to smile, but I could tell he was worried about me now. "Um, yeah. Snap us inside, please."

So, I did, and when I did, my family was surprised, to the point they jumped. But, when they saw my head, they simply rolled their eyes.

"I'll go get the first aid kit," Iggy announced as he stood from the couch and headed back towards the back room.

"We have some things to talk about," I informed them all. "After I fix my head. But, you know what? I say they wait until later."

Seth's eyes widened in surprise. "Later? What happens later?"

"Later as in after I fix my head," I lied smoothly.

"Oh. Okay."

Silly boy.


	24. 23: Surprise

**the song from the last chapter was _Welcome to the Masquerade_ by Thousand Foot Krutch. :D amazing song and amazing band!**

**anyways, this chapter's song is _Live to Party _by the Jonas Brothers. basically the whole song, so, yep. just look it up if you want.**

**keep reading and reviewing please. :) it is very nice to see new reviews, even though they're not necessary. and the reviewer who put me almost next to bacon on the Awesomesaucenosity scale? THANK YOU! That is so flattering, because bacon is so very amazing. :D that makes my day!**

**as do all the reviews from DarkTruths72. okay, really, all reviews make my day. not even kidding. so, please. by all means. :) continue with them. i will work harder and better if you do...:D**

* * *

It was hard to convince Seth that he needed to get dressed up. I had to lie and say that _I _was surprising him tonight.

Well, it wasn't really a lie. He didn't realize that we all, including my family, planned a surprise party for him.

Now, I consider his family mine, even before we decided to have the wedding so soon in England.

All the team, pretty much, was gonna be at my house—since he doesn't have people at his—so I had to take him away for a little while. Also, Kelsi and some of his other friends would be there, the ones not on the team. I told 'em to bring their girlfriends too, even the ones I didn't really even know.

Seth knew something was up when all we did was go to the spot and make out. A _lot_. Hey. They said keep him away. They never said how.

He was dressed in a pair of nice jeans and a black button-up shirt, of course with the top button unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up to the crease of his elbow. With this, he had on his converse and a black studded belt.

While we were making out, his shirt just so happened to magically fall off, as did the white tank top I was wearing...and the electric blue camisole underneath.

But, don't worry. The zebra print mini skirt I was wearing, with a two inch thick electric blue waist with white polka dots and a lace rim surrounding the entire bottom edge of the skirt, was still on.

Oh. Can't forget about the thin silk bows lining the bottom edge of the blue waist band thing. **(A/N: Sorry if the skirt description is confusing? I'm trying to figure out new ways to describe what they're wearing other than just saying it.)**

It wasn't much on, but he had seen me in even less. And, it didn't get too carried away. We were good.

Somewhat.

But, as I said before, he got suspicious. I wouldn't be dressed up, with my hair straightened and everything, just to take him to the spot to make out.

He didn't know what was going on, though, not exactly. When we walked upstairs and everyone yelled, "Surprise," he understood.

And he was beyond thrilled, because it was an amazing way to end such a strangely awesome day. I mean, I learned his deepest, darkest secret that made both of us cry, but it was still an amazing time.

It was really crowded. I mean, my house was big, but there were a lot of people in here. Coach even came by for a little bit, but his wife demanded he come home before it got too late, so he didn't get to stay long.

Jessie was, as usual, dressed in a formal manner, but for Jess, it was pretty casual. She had on a strapless black silk dress with a complete mesh top layer and a diamond pendant looking area in the center of the tight chest. The rest of it was pretty loose, and she was wearing a pair of black ribbon stilettos. Her hair was put up in a way similar to mine from last night.

Seth never left my side, not once. It was actually surprising, because he usually liked to go over with Garrett while I talked to Kelsi, or things like that.

But not this time.

Daddy had turned my stereo up loud once we arrived and began socializing. Actually, the older people began to disappear, and it left mostly just people from school, or their girlfriends.

Minus Jessie, of course, who was the only "guardian" still here.

She _finally _managed to get me away from Seth, but only because I had texted her to find a way to do so. She had talked Garrett into throwing a pie in his face, so Seth was chasing Garrett around the house he knew _way _better than him.

They actually ended up going outside, but where most people ran to watch, I stayed inside to talk to Jessie.

"What?" she asked quietly. "Did you talk to him?"

I squealed and nodded. "Yes, Jess, and he's willing to go. But, of course, he said I have to go. But, that's not the best news. You are the first person I've told, but we're getting married then too!"

She gasped before eagerly letting out a squeal of her own and hugging me tighter than she ever had. We began jumping, but with her in her stilettos and me in my combat boots, it didn't quite work well for her.

"You're serious?" she gasped.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"How did you manage to convince him?" she asked happily, still shaking with excitement. "Oh my. This is so—"

"Jess, I want you to help me plan it," I interrupted quickly. "Can you do that?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Now, we'll need to hurry. Quickly pick out your maid-of-honor, make the guest list...this is going to be _huge_! He agreed to the ball?"

I nodded. "So, yeah. Those dance lessons are gonna be necessary. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay? I'll come by there, and I'll bring my parents so I can just announce it to everyone at once. Don't say anything, okay?"

"I won't," she vowed. "This is—"

"Stupid fucker," Seth interrupted quickly before walking over to me with a damp face and kissing my forehead. "Hey you."

I beamed up at him. "Hey there. Had a good day?"

"Another one of those days tied for the best day of my life, yes," he smiled. "Jess, thanks for helping with this."

Jess looked like she might explode if she didn't squeal and hug him, so she did. But, without a word, she kissed his cheek, hugged him, and hurried off before she gave herself away.

I rolled my eyes about the same time Seth asked, "What's up with her?"

"Who knows?"

"Good point," he agreed before taking my hands in his. "Iggy just suggested we move the remaining guests into the tree house so your parents can get some sleep. What do you think?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Just let me go ahead to open it so that they won't know which one it is or anything. I mean, it's impossible to find, and I could just…no. I'll move the tree house temporarily into the barn and the barn into the tree house so that nothing seems weird."

"They already know you're weird," he teased. "But good idea. That'll be easier. Can you do that?"

I nodded. It was a bit challenging, and I had to focus, but with a snap, it was hopefully done.

"Hey, everyone!" I exclaimed as Sam, knowing what I was thinking, ran to my room and turned off the music. "Why don't we all head out to the barn so all the old people can get some sleep?"

Garrett grinned at me. "The barn? Of course."

"Hey, my barn is beast," I said firmly.

He snorted but nodded. "Alright."

Actually, not many people remained. There was, obviously, Seth, Jessie, Sam, Alex, Garrett, and Kelsi, but Piper, Hayley, Zack, Jake, and their significant others.

"We're gonna go, actually, Ari," Hayley informed me before smiling. "Awesome party, and happy birthday, Seth. Night all."

"Night, Hayley," I smiled. "Alright then."

"Us too," Piper admitted. "Sorry, but I have a curfew."

"That's fine," I said honestly. "Thanks for coming."

She smiled and nodded. "Happy eighteenth birthday, Seth."

He grinned at her. "Thank you. See y'all later."

Garret's eyebrows rose. "Y'all? Did he just say y'all?"

I busted out laughing as I nodded, unable to actually _say _yes. Seth and Jessie, too, were laughing, and Alex was simply smirking as Sam rolled her eyes and grinned.

Seth just rolled his eyes. "So, what do you guys say? The barn?"

"What are we gonna do?" Alex snorted. "Sit on the four-wheelers?"

"Just watch and observe," I said lightly before leading the entire crew outside. In the barn, we cranked up the music, danced like idiots, played Guitar Hero, played Modern Warfare: Black Ops, and did all kinds of crazy, teenage stuff.

And that's the last thing I remember, until...

"The zombie awakens!" Jessie squealed as I stood up from the bed, blinking rapidly as I looked around my room around us.

My eyebrows furrowed as I began playfully feeling my skin. "But...I don't feel like a zombie..."

"Yeah, well, idiots don't feel stupid, but they are," she reminded me. "So, come on, silly girl! We have so much to do today!"

"Where's Seth?" I mumbled sleepily.

She shrugged. "I think he went to his room? Sam and Alex did, for sure, and I'm pretty sure he did too. Garrett and Kelsi crashed here, because we lost track of time. I stayed in here, because you just love me."

I rolled my eyes as I yawned. "Of course I do, Jess. Oh man. I should get up before Kelsi and Garrett are scarred for life by my utterly strange family."

When I opened my door, I almost ran right into Sam, who looked like a deer caught in headlights as I did this. She looked terrified, like she was about to knock and was caught by surprise.

I laughed. "Come on in, Sam. Don't look so scared, okay? It's just me."

"I'm not sure how you'll react," she murmured honestly, stepping carefully as she closed the door behind herself. "But, um, I figured you should be the first to know, because you're the one who made all of this possible, and I thank you for that. Um, I'm just gonna come right out and say it. Tonight, Alex and I are going on a date...a real, legitimate date, because last night, when we went to bed, he kissed me goodnight, and it got crazy wild, so we ended up making out for a long time until I went to bed, finally."

I couldn't contain myself as I began squealing and happy dancing. It actually got so loud and crazy, that Jessie opened my door and released me to the rest of the house, because neither of them could take the insanity.

Alex was the first person I found, wearing nothing but athletic shorts and messy bed hair. Actually, it was more like make out hair.

Which made me even happier!

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he exclaimed crankily, but even as I ruffled his hair and hugged him tightly, I was still just as happy.

So happy that I ran into the living room and tackled Seth, who was talking to Garrett. But, I took him down with ease.

"Guess what!" I all but screamed in his face.

His eyes were wide as he looked up at me. "God, Ari. I haven't seen you this happy since...well, okay, yesterday, but don't break anything or hit your head. I'm terrified to ask, but what?"

I squealed eagerly before rolling us both over a couple of times. Of course, I was still on top, and his eyes were even wider, but I didn't care. This was an amazing day.

A little terrifying what we had to do later, but, hey. It was gonna be awesome.

"Sam and Alex are going out on a date tonight!" I exclaimed eagerly. "As in my favorite Sam and my brother Alex! Ah!"

"Okay, babe, _breathe_," he said quickly, pushing me off of him so that he could sit up. "Ari, calm down."

"I'm sorry," I stuttered out quickly. "But, w-with everything that's happening all of the sudden, I just feel like screaming. AH! See? That wasn't even half of it! Can I happy dance some more? That would be nice. I think I w—"

"Breathe," he interrupted in a serious tone. "I realize you're happy, and I am too, but no more screaming, okay? That kinda hurts."

"Which is why we let her out to begin with," Jessie scoffed.

Kelsi let out a humorous laugh. "Damn, Ari. Your house is quite amusing. This has been an interesting morning."

That was enough to calm me down a little, enough that I was able to groan. "Oh man. Who was the first one to come out in boxers?"

"No, no, no," she said quickly. "Not weird or anything. Awesome, really. Iggy is hilarious, and you dad? Oh my gosh. He's an awesome person. Your mom seems cool too, but that's all I've really met."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"We should probably head out, though," Garrett spoke up. "As fun as it is watching Ari tackle Seth like that, I have somewhere to be today at noon, and it's almost eleven."

My eyes widened. "Eleven? Are you shitting me?"

Jessie giggled. "Chill, Ari. We have until noon before Mum is expecting us."

Seth's eyebrows furrowed. "Why are we going there?"

"We have some things to discuss with everyone, so Jessie decided to just have a family get-together type thing," I informed him. "And, Garrett, Kels...thanks so much for coming. Last night was so much fun."

"It was," Kelsi agreed. "We'll see you two tomorrow."

"Okay," I smiled.

"Be good," Garrett ordered, although we both knew he didn't mean that. He was one of the guys trying to convince us to just go ahead and do it.

But we were gonna listen and be good.

Seth frowned. "So, my parents' house?"

I nodded and quirked my lips to the side. "Yeah. I'm a little anxious too, but it'll be okay. You should only be chased around the house by three guys. Well, no. Sean will probably attack too, but I don't think Jesse will, so we're good there."

"Why are we gonna attack him?" Iggy asked curiously. "We like Seth now, remember?"

I nodded before kissing Seth's cheek. "Go get ready. We don't have long, and it never hurts to get there early."

He just groaned and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."


	25. 24: Denied

**ahhhh. :D it makes my day when i get on and see four new reviews. :) not required ones at that! thank you to all you devoted readers! i just wanted you all to know that i have figured out where this story is going. for real. all of it. right down to the last installment. it might actually surprise you. :)**

**point is, thanks for reviewing and keeping it going. XD without further ado, two more chapters that i wrote late one night and haven't been able to get on until now.**

**THANKS!**

* * *

You're the kinda boy my daddy used to warn  
Would walk into my life and lead me down the wrong way...

...Hallelujah  
I finally found a boy like me  
Lord have mercy  
I think I'm in a fantasy

* * *

Seth was still a little sore when it came to the presents everyone got him, including his own family and mine. Which, I guess, we'll just start calling them our family, unless referring to a specific group.

Yes. Sounds amazing.

But, I told him to get over it. He _really _didn't enjoy walking outside and seeing the 2011 blacked out Camero convertible his parents got him, but I did. I _love _those things.

Really, everything he was given ticked him off, but he got over it after a while.

Then, it came time to head to his house. We rode in the Camero, Jessie drove his truck, and my family followed in their various vehicles. We had decided that it was only necessary for my parents, Sam, and Alex to come, so the others had stayed behind.

The message would be relayed to them, though.

Seth was careful not to get there too fast, because he was getting really nervous.

I mean, I got why. His parents had asked him to wait until absolutely necessary, meaning after he graduates, and he's about to ask them if they'll let us get married in less than two months?

Well, with them, even if they say no, he technically _can _anyways. He just won't.

As we pulled into the driveway, my family pulling in behind us, I grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We can do this."

"Together," he added on, knowing it would help ease my frantic heart a little. "I think my parents, at least, will like the idea. I'm not so sure about your dad, though."

"He'll get over it eventually," I admitted. "No matter when this occurred, he wouldn't be happy."

"Touché," he mumbled under his breath before turning the car off and getting out. He was quick to hurry around to open the door for me, and I actually let him, because I knew he just wanted to be the chivalrous prince he was raised to be.

I kissed him softly before smiling brightly. "Thank you."

He smiled happily and closed the door with his foot. "No problem, my very beautiful fiancée."

I just laughed and took his hand in mine, loving very much how amazing that sounded. "Come on, loser. Let's get inside and face our death."

"I wouldn't say death," he reminded me. "Especially not _yours_."

I scowled up at him. "Damn it, Seth. Don't get me anymore reason to take you to the damn tree house."

He let out a blissful laugh as the two of us walked through the front door. "Okay, Ari. I'll try to be good."

"Thank you."

"Ari!" Elizabeth greeted happily. "Seth. It's so great to see you both. Come on in. Lunch still has a bit, so why don't you all come inside so we can discuss this important matter you two need to talk about?"

"Sounds good," I agreed with a smile. My family was behind me, and they exchanged greetings with Seth's parents, but there was a slight tension in the room. No one knew what was happening, except Jessie and possibly Sam, so they were a little bit on edge.

Seth and I stood while everyone else sat down, and once they were all settled and listening, I took a deep breath and began.

"Okay," I said gently. "First of all, we'll start with easy stuff. James and Elizabeth, my family and I go to Arizona to visit my family every Thanksgiving, and, well, I was wondering if maybe Seth could come with us this time? I mean, I know that's a family time, and I'm only asking because I would probably be literally freaking out the entire time."

"And, the reason I would go there over Thanksgiving is because we're gonna be in England over Christmas," Seth went on, to help sway his parents. "It's been a while, and, uh, I'm starting to miss it. So, we'll have the ball…maybe something else. Um, but that's the next question. Max, Fang, I, um...I know England's a whole new country, but I was wondering if I could possibly take all of you, including everyone else, with me? If, of course, Mom and Dad don't mind."

"Oh," Momma gasped, eyes wide. "Seth, sweetheart, that's really nice. We can most definitely pay our way, though, if it's not intruding?"

"Of course not!" Elizabeth exclaimed eagerly. "That would be wonderful! You could all attend Seth's eighteenth birthday ball. You're practically family as it is. Of course, Ari. Take him to Arizona. He needs to meet the rest of your family too."

"And that moves us to the next thing we need to discuss," I said nervously, letting out a shaky laugh as my eyes moved down to the floor. "Um, well, you see...Seth?"

He, too, laughed nervously. "Well, I got to thinking the other night, after I was a complete jerk, that this girl is my world. We all know that, and we know she's stuck with me forever and ever. I'll stop rambling eventually and get to the point, but I must stress that she's everything to me. And, somehow, I'm everything to her."

"Stop it," I said firmly with narrowed eyes but a loving smile. "We've been over this, Seth."

"Right," he smiled. "Okay. Point is, you guys know I went ahead and asked her to marry me. Why? Because it's gonna happen eventually. And by eventually, we were hoping that could be over Christmas break...in England...at the castle."

The entire room got _dead _silent, besides a squealing Jessie and Sam. Of course Sam had heard it, so they were both happy dancing together.

"And, of course I will, Ari," Sam eagerly informed me as she looked at me. "Being your maid-of-honor is gonna be awesome!"

My eyes went wide, but then, I remembered. Mind reader. Right. I knew that.

"Sounds good to me," Alex shrugged. "But, obviously, my vote has no say in it at all."

"No," I agreed. "But, hey. Thanks for the vote anyways."

He just grinned over at me before looking at Sam. "Hey, you. Breathe. Inhale, exhale."

I didn't listen to his flirting anymore, because I was focused on the four people whose votes _did _matter. Actually, they were the deciding factor, and if they said no, it didn't matter. We couldn't have the wedding then.

"No," Daddy spoke up, the first of the four. "Not happening."

"Come on, Daddy," I said quickly, eyebrows furrowing a little in confusion. "You know how hard this is. Why not? I'm gonna have to get married at sixteen before I get out of high school anyways! Why not now?"

"Because I said no," he said firmly. "That's that."

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're not the only one deciding this," I reminded him. "I don't mind no if you can give me a legit reason why."

"Because I said so!" he exclaimed. "That's good enough."

"No, it's not," I said simply. "Normally, yeah, but not now. Why? It's gonna happen anyways, whether you like it or not. Maybe not over Christmas break, but it will."

"It's not happening over Christmas break!" he yelled angrily before standing from the couch and storming out the front door, leaving everyone—but me—wide eyed and shocked.

"I am so, so sorry about that," Momma apologized quickly, looking truly embarrassed at her husband's behavior. "While we let him stop being a baby about this, why don't we discuss this like adults?"

My teeth ground together. "What's there to discuss?"

"I'll deal with your father," she said gently. "You know as well as I do that he's just not ready to see you grow up like this. Marriage is definitely growing up, and he's still not ready. I, on the other hand, think it's a good idea."

"I second that," James spoke up with a smile. "He's eighteen, and you're mature enough to know what's best for you. Like you said, it'll happen eventually, so why not now? I also think your grandfather will be beyond happy then, and it saves a lot of trouble."

Elizabeth looked over at James and then at us. "I never thought I would be saying this, but James is right. The look on my father's face when you get married, Seth...aw, man. He'll be the happiest man alive. I think it's a splendid idea."

"But," Momma spoke up, making Seth's eager spirits die down into the same place mine were—the rejection of the idea. "I'm sorry, you two, but I can't sign the necessary papers without Fang's one hundred percent approval. Until he says okay, it can't happen. This is a decision we swore to make together."

"I understand," Seth nodded. "I mean, it can wait until the summer. It was just an idea."

Elizabeth sighed. "And just when I was looking forward to it."

"I think I will be able to convince him," Momma informed us all, something that surprised me a little. "Wait a couple of days to start seriously planning things, but I truly believe I will make him see this is the best thing for everyone."

And now, I was able to smile again, because I knew that if anyone could convince Daddy to say yes, it was Momma. She had a hope, and she was willing to try.

So, all we could do is wait and see.


	26. 25: Confused

**the song in the last chapter was _Boy Like Me _by Jessica Harp. :) one of the very few country songs i can stand. lol**

* * *

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
No one can tame this animal I have become  
Make me believe it's not the real me  
No one can tame this animal

* * *

Like Momma requested, none of the serious planning started. Anything we could possibly do, though, that _didn't _depend on a date, we quickly got started with.

But, after a week, Momma gave up. Daddy would _not _budge.

It was hard focusing in school with all that was going on at home. Thankfully, I was at the Moores, so Daddy and I wouldn't fight some more, but when the weekend came around, I knew World War III was about to begin again.

Normally, what Daddy said went. No questions asked. But, this was different. He couldn't even give me a legitimate excuse. If I had gotten that excuse, I would've bitterly accepted the no. But he couldn't, and I hated that.

So, when I got home that Friday, Seth reassuringly squeezed my hand and wished me good luck. He knew what I was about to do, what Momma had given up on.

He went in the living room with Sam and Alex, and the three of them turned on the TV. I didn't pay attention to what they turned on.

Instead, I was focused on my dad, who was sitting on his bed scowling at the laptop in his lap. He didn't even look up or greet me.

No, what I got was a, "Get out of here, Ari. We're not talking about this."

"Um, yeah, we are," I said simply. "Dad, come on. We can talk about this like mature adults. But we have to talk about it. What's so different in December and June?"

"You mean besides the six months in-between them?" he snorted. "One's hot and one's cold."

"Dad, come on," I insisted. "You know what I'm talking about. Either way, I'm still gonna be sixteen, and I'm still gonna be in high school. You say you want us to be good until we're married, but I can promise you it won't happen if you make us wait until June! It's hard enough now!"

"This is all about sex!" he exclaimed angrily. "Ari, if you wanted to get married for the right reasons, I would let you, but you're just getting married in December so it'll be okay to have sex."

I gaped at him with wide eyes. I could not even believe he just said that, because we _both _knew that wasn't the case.

"You know damn well that's not true!" I yelled angrily. "Why would you even say that? Why can't you just tell me your real reason for not letting us get married then?"

"You're clearly not ready!" he shouted back at me, throwing the laptop in his hands clear across the room and shattering it to pieces. "You can't even have a mature conversation with me! How can you be ready for marriage?"

"I cannot even believe you're doing this," I whispered, still shaking my head. "Dad, you know better than almost anyone that I've got the maturity of _at least _a twenty-year-old! Stop making it out like I'm a child! I'm not!"

"Um, yeah, you are," he pointed out harshly, barking the words at me. "Eighteen is the legal adult age. You're not eighteen."

"And I won't be in June either!" I insisted. "Dad, why are you doing this? Just talk to me! I just wanna know _why_!"

"Because you're not ready!" he screamed in my face, releasing more anger and more fury than he had ever used on me.

"I'm not ready, or you're not?" I asked coldly, taking a step back away from him as tears began to fill my eyes. "Dad, it looks to me like you're the one with issues here. I'm as ready as I'll ever be for this. The problem isn't me. It's you."

Without another word, I turned and went down the hallway. I went into the living room, but it didn't last long. I went straight out the back door and onto the porch, where I began to cry. I knew Seth was behind me, and I knew he would follow me into the barn. I wasn't sure what I planned to do there, but when I got there, I fell to my knees and began to sob.

"Ari, don't," he whispered. "If it means waiting until June to marry you, I'll be okay."

"I can't take this much longer, Seth," I shook my head firmly. "I want you so bad that it should be illegal. It's like an addiction. I've had you once, and now, I'll do whatever it takes to have you again. It's that bad. And, you know, the saddest part is, I don't even care anymore. Come here."

He stepped closer to me, but he looked wary. It wasn't until I passionately kissed him, releasing a good bit of my desire into this kiss. He understood then, because his hands grew rigid, and his body was stiff.

Gently, he pulled away from me, shaking his head the instant he could. "Ari, no."

"Seth, we both want this," I insisted. "Please? It'll make everything so much easier. On both of us."

"I am not having sex with you right now, not here," he said gently. "As much as I would love to, I'm not gonna have sex with you when I know, deep down, it would just be to spite your dad. We _can _make it until June. It will be the hardest thing we've ever had to do to together, but I'm willing to try if you are. Right now, though, you can't see that, because all you can think of, subconsciously, is doing everything your dad says not to, including me."

"Seth, it wouldn't be to spite him," I assured him, although I wasn't so sure. What he said...it made sense.

He nodded. "Ari, it would. You really need some time alone. I'm gonna head back inside. Please be careful, and come back in when you're ready."

With those words, he kissed the top my head and headed right back in. It surprised me, beyond anything that had happened in a while, but the most surprising thing wasn't that he left me alone, but the fact that he knew all this stuff, even before I did.

And he right. About all of it.

***Seth***

As I walked back inside, Sam was smiling brightly at me as she continued to sit by Alex.

"Good boy," she said soothingly, knowing I needed some sort of comfort right now. Walking away from that girl, leaving her there confused and hurt that I had rejected her, was one of the hardest things I had yet done in my life.

But, man, she would've regretted it later, so much that it would've hurt both of us to see it happen.

I wanted that in there, more than anything else. Hearing those words, those exact words I had fantasized her saying, was something I had wanted. But, the tone was all wrong, as were the circumstances.

And now, I realized that the only way those words would be said would be in circumstances like this.

So, I refused to let them change my mind. We would be good until after we got married, no matter when the wedding occurred.

I had something I needed to do, though, and Sam looked absolutely horrified as I took my first step. She quickly told Alex what I was doing, and before I knew it, he was blocking my way.

"No, Seth," he said quickly. "Really bad idea. Not a word to him, okay? He'll snap. Don't. Just leave it alone. I realize you're quick to defend her, but—"

"Alex, move," I said gently, brushing past him as I cut him off. "I'm not defending her."

Fang was waiting for me in his doorway, his dark eyes narrowed to slits as he waited there. "Then what in the hell do you want?"

"Look, sir, I understand that she's your little girl," I informed him quietly, a little nervous now that I was under the pressure of his dark, venomous gaze. It was a scary sight, for anyone. Honestly, he looked like a demon right now. "And I'm not here to change your mind. If it means June, okay. I'll wait until June, for all of it. Everything marriage means. I just wanted to say that you two don't need to fight like this. Ever. It's not good for any of us. I have never seen that girl so messed up and confused, and I've never seen you so pissed and, well, evil looking. I know Ari is your world, your everything. I understand what that's like. Normally, you would do whatever it takes to make her happy. But, there's always something that stops that. Like I said, if June, fine. June. But, please don't do this to yourself, or her. She's got us both wrapped around her fingers; I know. This girl we both love more than anything...she loves you. There is no one who can fill the spot you're in, and there's no one who can walk her down the aisle, who can love her when some stupid boy breaks her heart—not that there ever will be anyone like that, sir."

I was quick to say that, because when I said that about the stupid boy, his eyes lit up demonically even more, and I was scared.

"I just wanted you to know that," I finished up gently. "And I wanted to say that you were wrong, about many things, but one in particular. Maybe we don't know what we're getting into by getting married, but we will not _ever _get married just so it's okay to have sex. Honestly, sir, if that was it, we would've had sex many times over by now. I just wanted to say that, to let you know that no one can ever take your place in her life. Alright. I'm gonna go now."

With that, I turned and practically ran down the hallway, away from him. His seething gaze had died down some, but he still looked pissed.

On the outside anyways. On the inside, he looked absolutely torn up inside.


	27. 26: Stress Overload

**the song in the last chapter was _Animal I Have Become _by Three Days Grace.**

**oh! by the way, besides the epilogue, this is the last chapter of this installment of this series. :) i'm not sure what i'll call it...but there should be three more parts. maybe four? idk exactly the ending parts. it's still up for debate.**

**i promise. once things get dull and boring, and no one wants any more, i'll stop. i won't keep making more unless you guys still want more. but, it'll be good, the sequals, i think. :) i'm not 100% sure what the next installment will be called..but i'll put an author's note on this one when i have the name and post the first parts, okay?**

**alrighty. so, the final chapter (besides the epilogue) of Recovery. :)**

* * *

I need a hero to save me now  
I need a hero  
**To save me now!**  
I need a hero to save my life  
A hero will save me  
**Just in time!**

I gotta fight today to live another day  
Speaking my mind today  
**My voice will be heard today!**

* * *

When I got to school the next morning, I couldn't help but laugh in pure delight as Lindsey stalked into the hallway, looking for someone in particular.

And I knew just who that was. I may be having a terrible day, and things may be rather stressful, but seeing what had already begun to happen was _priceless_.

Her golden blonde hair was turning frail and rigid, splitting at the ends. It even started fading into exactly the color it was supposed to turn…grey.

And under her eyes were the first bags she was beginning to get. To be honest, her hair looked a hell of a lot thinner too.

"What in the hell did you do to me, you freak?" Lindsey shrieked as she found the person she was searching for. "My hair is turning grey and falling out! Ah!"

I smirked at her as I turned around slowly, eyes full of delight. "Who says I did anything? Maybe that's just natural."

"Fix this!" she demanded harshly, gritting her teeth together as she pushed me back. "Now, you bitch!"

"Name calling is most _definitely _the way to go to ask for help," I snorted. "You're a smart one, aren't you?"

"Go to hell," she sneered coldly and began to walk away from me.

"Um, no thank you," I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to get _away _from you? Why would I follow you there?"

Everyone in the hallway grew silent as she stopped, other than random team members cheering me on. Seth, on the other hand, sighed as he leaned over towards me.

"Ari," he whispered soothingly, putting his hand on my cheek as she slowly turned back towards me. "Baby girl, now is really not the time for this. Let it go. As much as I hate this bitch and want to see her suffer, you know as well as I do that you would hate yourself later for this. Please don't do this right now. You're stressed. You're pissed. You hate her. I do too, more than you could probably imagine. But, wait until later..."

"Seth, if I want until later, things will never change," I said firmly, giving him a decisive look. "I understand where you're coming from, but I can't take this shit from her much longer. You're right when you say I'm stressed. Nah shit. It won't get better unless she's stopped. I have to do this."

"No, Ari, you don't," he disagreed. "I want you too, so badly. It's pretty high up there on the list of things I _want _to happen. Right above the Steelers winning the Super Bowl this year."

I rolled my eyes as I smirked at him a little. "Of course. But, seriously, Seth. Let me do this."

He shook his head. "No can do, love. Sorry, but you'll thank me later."

"Doubt it."

"You are so pathetic," Lindsey scoffed mockingly. "_'Oh, baby, I can't do anything without your approval because I'm a pathetic pussy who depends on you for survival.' _Ari, this is your problem right here. Not only are you a slutty man-stealer, but you _live _off everything Seth tells you. It's like you can't live without him."

"Because she _can't_," Garret spoke up, surprising me completely. "You may not understand what it means to care about someone other than yourself, but she does. You're right about one thing; she needs Seth to live. Why? 'Cause she loves him. Why? 'Cause she does. It's her nature. This also makes her a _caring _person, the most amazing person I've ever met. Does she listen to Seth? Yeah, because he knows her better than she knows herself sometimes. Are you jealous? Extremely. You hate the fact that not only did she steal Seth and Homecoming Queen from you, but she's also ten times more popular than you, a hundred times smarter than you, a thousand times better than you, and a _million _times prettier than you—inside and out!"

Lindsey surprised _everyone _when she slapped Garrett, hard. That did it for me, though, because the next thing I knew, I had her tackled on the ground, fist reared back to beat her ugly little face in.

And then, Seth yanked me back off of her and slammed me back into the lockers, looking deeply into my eyes as he shook his head. Alex and Sam were now here, probably after Sam heard about something that was going on.

That was probably another thing that makes Seth's list of super, extremely hard things for him to do. He did it, though.

And for whatever reason, I slapped _him_, furious that he had _protected her. _After everything she had done to us? He's really gonna protect her?

I stared up at him disbelievingly, truly crushed. "Why won't you let me do this?"

He was _pissed _now, unable to even look at me. With tightly clenched teeth and a set jaw, he tried to answer me. No words could come out, though, and even as the bell rang and people began to go to class, we just stood here, beyond furious at each other. Sam and Alex hesitated, but they too left, realizing we _needed _to be alone.

"You slapped me..."

"I slapped you," I said icily, glaring harshly up at him. "You stopped me. Why? Why is this happening to me? First I'm told I can't marry you, without a reason, and then this? I don't need this right now, Seth. I—"

"No, Ari," he interrupted bitterly, grabbing my wrist as I tried to get away with an iron hard grip. He wasn't stronger than me, but he was strong enough that it kinda surprised me a little—stung a little too. "Stay. Think about it. You needed someone to release all your anger and stress on...to vent everything out on...so choose _me_. You know damn well I did what I had to for your own good. I admit, maybe I should've let you dish out a few punches, but you would've killed her, Ari, and you know that. Then, maybe a month or two later, you would've regretted it."

"Maybe someone else who just pissed me off, but not her," I disagreed. "That is one heartless bitch, Seth."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Ari, are you telling me that just 'cause she's a bitch, you'd be willing to kill her?"

"I..." with wide eyes, I looked up to him again. "Oh God. I...that's what I just said. Seth, I...I have to get out of here. Clear my head. Fly away. Move to Mars. I don't know! I just have to go s—"

"Take me with you," he interrupted gently, no longer seeming pissed. "We have some issues to settle before you're public ready. Let's head to your place. My parents might just kill me for this."

* * *

As I sat on my four-wheeler, looking out at the beautiful land around us, I let my mind drift off to earlier…back to when the thought of killing Lindsey seemed logical, like something that was _right_.

That could never be right, could it? I mean, it goes back to the concept of how could killing someone for killing someone show that killing someone is wrong? Basically, it's the same thing, but it's like...how could being cruel to someone who was cruel to you show that being cruel to people is wrong?

It brought me to something I had never really thought about before, never really had the need to. Sometimes, people are insane. Sometimes, they have to be taken out for the safety of others. It's just what you have to do to protect innocent, good people.

So, killing bad people wasn't so wrong.

On the other hand, who am I to judge them? God is the only person who can decide who's evil and who isn't.

But...when they go around harming others, putting others' lives at risk...killing them would be the only option, right?

Just _thinking _like this made me feel awful, made me feel like something was wrong with me. I was a sick, twisted creature, wasn't I?

The scariest part was, I couldn't tell Seth. He had seemed so horrified at the idea of me killing Lindsey, it seemed. The thought of death seemed to scare him, although it was something he would have to get used to as we go through our existence together.

Seth looked over to me with a gentle expression. "Ari, what are you thinking about?"

"How utterly disgusting I am," I murmured, not really wanting to give more explanation. But, I had learned through seeing it happen that secrets and hiding things wasn't smart. It just led to bottled up emotions and stressful arguments.

His eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to kill her," I said bluntly, shrugging for no apparent reason. "And that didn't even bother me at the time. When I thought about everything cruel and heartless she had done to me, I felt like the only way to teach people a lesson on being cruel was to use her as an example, eliminate her from the picture. But, how can being cruel to someone who was cruel to you teach someone not to be cruel? It makes it seem like cruelty is the only way to get through life, and that's definitely not true! Seth, I'm terrible!"

"No, Ari," he disagreed softly, sliding off of his four-wheeler so he could move over here to hug me. "Sweetheart, you're not terrible. You're stressed. Would you have killed Lindsey? By accident, yes. On purpose? I don't think so. She's not the right kind of evil. Would you kill a bloody serial killer? I think you would in a heartbeat. Lindsey? No. Look, Ari, I can't tell you I understand that thought process and what you're going through, but I can tell you this. When I told you about what happened with my grandmother, hearing you threaten her life...knowing you meant it...it made me happy. That's just as sick. I mean, think about it. Being glad someone is seriously going to murder someone? Or would if they were still alive anyways. Ari, I think our problem is we have a view on things. If a truly evil person who is gonna continuing harming and scarring others in life-threatening, or just traumatically life-altering ways, is on the loose, we feel as if we're supposed to stop it, as if we're supposed to find a way to end it—or at least enjoy the ending of their terror reign. Ari, you're not a terrible person for wanting the problems with Lindsey to just end. You were just way too pissed and way too stressed for the setting. Don't worry about it. You are, in no sense of the word, disgusting."

It made me feel a little better, at least knowing he felt the same way. But, I still felt bad.

I was able to let it go as a new thought came into my mind, shutting out all the bad and leaving purely good. "So, wedding in June? Do we want to set a date?"

He smiled brightly, just as pleased with the change in conversation as I was. "We'll see how things go with December first, alright, love?"

I sighed. "Yeah...that's not changing."

And ironically, right about then, my cell phone began playing _The Downfall of Us All _by **A Day to Remember**. It was Daddy's ringtone, so I knew who it was.

"Hello?"

"Ari, come home, _now_," he said quickly, not bothering to give me any explanation other than a quick, "I need to talk to you alone. Have Seth wait in the tree house or something."

Oh boy. Here we go. More fighting. Wonderful. Just what I needed.


	28. E: Settling Issues

**the epilogue. :)**

**the song in the last chapter was _Hero _by Skillet.**

**i hope you have enjoyed this series so far. :) if you haven't, i really don't know why you've continued reading. that wouldn't really make sense. but, if you have, i hope you continue to enjoy the next parts, maybe even more? :D**

**thanks to all my amazing reviewers! XD it has really inspired me to keep pushing on, keep getting through. it's what has finished this part and started the ideas for the others. so, thanks, to all of you. there have been too many to name, so i'll just say one big thanks to all of you...**

**thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, THANK YOU!**

**:)**

**OH! and, first, i must tell you. the sequel (i'm not sure when it'll be up) will be called The Royal Treatment. why? cause we all know what's happening in the next part. XD and it'll be shorter than these previous two, probably. buuuuttt, in the 4th part, things will get very juicy, dramatic, and action-packed. so, stay tuned. :)**

* * *

...years have come and gone  
For Momma they flew by  
But for me the drug on and on...

...And make sure you tell Daddy that I'm still his little girl  
Just one more thing before you leave  
Don't forget to remember me

* * *

I was wary as I entered Momma and Daddy's bedroom, especially when I saw he was still alone. Actually, I think the scariest part was the fact that he was cleaning his super awesome knife collection he had gathered up over the years.

I knew he wasn't gonna hurt me, but it still made me uneasy.

"I heard about school today...and Friday," he informed me, not looking at me as he cleaned the Celtic dagger I had gotten him last Christmas. "She deserved more than you got to give her."

I shook my head. "No, Dad. Seth was right. I would've killed her."

"I know," he agreed, glancing briefly at me with a tiny smile. "I didn't say what you _would've _given her; only more than what you got to."

I sighed. "Well, Dad, I'm stressed. I'm angry. I'm confused. I just...I'm tired of her."

"And you're handling this more responsibly than I could've ever imagined," he added on. Now, he wasn't looking at the dagger, or me. Actually, he was looking at the floor, the dagger no longer in his hands. "You and Seth both. You work together to get through everything in the most logical, responsible way. Ari...I'm a horrible father."

"Don't say that," I said firmly. "You're not."

"I am," he disagreed, shaking his head. "I mean, I've been so mean…so cruel…and I can't even explain _why_. I just...you don't deserve this. You deserve reasons. You deserve answers. The problem is, I can't give them to you. Your argument…it makes so much sense, and it's all true. In my head, I keep telling myself that December will be just fine, but for whatever reason, I can't let you do it. I can't let you get married in December! I just can't do it!"

"Daddy," I whispered, finding the name I had always called him until this whole mess started easy to say again. "You can't give away your little girl so easily...so soon. I know it's a lot to take in, and I understand now. Forget it was even mentioned. We'll get married in June, and we'll do whatever it takes to be good."

"You're right," he whispered, eyes now wide as he looked up at me. "That's it! You're my baby girl! I can't give you away so easily! I can't watch you take the final step towards freedom like this! Why? Because as soon as I give you away to Seth, I'm giving you away to freedom. To responsibility. To everything you've dreamed, hoped, and worked for all your life. I can't give you away, because I'm afraid you won't be my little girl."

I was careful not to sit on any of his knives as I moved over to sit next to him, letting my hand rest comfortingly on his shoulder. "Daddy...I'll always be your baby girl, your only daughter. But, I haven't been little in almost fourteen years. I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. No one ever said I would be out of your life forever; I just wouldn't be under your roof anymore. Daddy, you might not like hearing this cliché analogy, but it fits...in more than one way. You have to let me fly, Daddy. You have to let me spread my wings and be free. I understand it's hard. I really do. I'm a little scared myself, because I have no idea what I'm getting into. There won't be any rules anymore, no one telling me right from wrong. No one paying for the electricity or anything like that. It'll be all me."

He rolled his eyes. "Ari, you're keeping everything we got you."

"You know what I mean," I sighed. "I'm scared too, Daddy, but it's a reality we'll have to face some time. Maybe we both need more time..."

He nodded, deciding too that this was best. "You're right."

There was a long silence then as this idea sank into both of our hearts and minds, settled deeply in there as reality. June wasn't so far away...not a year. It was nearly November, so almost eight months.

But, not a year...

"Oh, fuck that," he grunted, surprising me as he broke the peaceful silence. "I'm gonna kick myself all the time for saying this, for the longest time, but go ahead, Ari. Get married in December in England. At the castle. Damn it!"


	29. Link to Sequel

http:/ / www. fanfiction. net/s/7143557/1/The_Royal_Treatment

**here's the sequel to this part. :)**

**minus all the spaces in the link. cause it won't let me do it otherwise.**


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